Crossroads
by Cyclone20
Summary: After losing in the Sinnoh League to Tobias, Ash has returned home to realize that he has come to a crossroads in his life; continue to Unova or stop and get stronger so he doesn't have to feel the pain of defeat again and he can finally become the master that he has always been destined to become; AshXAnabel.
1. Chapter 1 Realization

**Author's Note:**

Hey everyone, what's going on?

So this story is pretty much going to be kind of similar to From Servant to Stardom by MisterP also known as the king of abilityshipping. It was one of the first major stories that I have ever read on this site 5 years ago and I have always wanted to try and put my own ideas into possibly creating an even better story than he created.

Basically for a quick little summary Ash is back home now after losing in the Sinnoh League to Tobias and he has to make a choice on whether to continue on to the next region, in this case Unova or he can choose to stop and get stronger so he doesn't have to feel the pain of defeat again.

Also throughout this story Ash will be growing much more as a person than the way that it happened in From Servant to Stardom, I just feel that if he grows as more of a person it will make him a better overall trainer and make him easier to write.

Also just want to give a big thank you to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

That is about it so I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Crossroads and leave a review when you're done!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 1: Realization**

_Pallet Town – Kanto Region_

It was a crisp, cloudless night in Pallet Town as Ash Ketchum laid awake in his bed at 4:00 in the morning. He was simply looking out his bedroom window, remembering the devastating loss that he suffered at the hands of possibly the strongest opponent he had ever been up against; Tobias.

_Start Flashback_

"_Latios shake off Pikachu!" Yelled Tobias. He knew that Latios had already sustained a substantial amount of damage from Pikachu's thunderbolts while being on its back._

_Upon hearing his call, Latios shot up high into the sky like a bullet with Pikachu barely clinging to its back. Once Latios had ascended to a high enough altitude, Latios quickly turned back towards the ground which caused Pikachu to fly off Latios's back._

"_Now Latios finish it with Luster Purge!" Called Tobias. Latios quickly descended, turned back around to face Pikachu and fired a purple beam from its mouth towards the now falling Pikachu._

"_Pikachu, this is our last shot, use Volt Tackle!" Roared Ash. Pikachu, knowing that this was coming, stabilized itself in mid-air and engulfed itself in pure electricity before charging towards Latios._

_Pikachu met Latios's powerful Luster Purge halfway which caused a battle for dominance to begin as Pikachu began to run against the powerful beam all the while slowly making its way towards Latios._

_Once Ash deemed that Pikachu was close enough to Latios the young trainer called out "Pikachu, Iron Tail!" As Pikachu got closer to Latios, Pikachu's tail began to glow a bright, brilliant white. Once Pikachu's tail was at full power, Pikachu flipped himself around to hit the base of Latios's beam which caused a huge explosion and large amounts of smoke to blast around the stadium._

_Both Ash and Tobias covered their eyes once the smoke reached them. Neither of the two trainers knew what the outcome of the powerful attack would be._

_After about a minute, the smoke began to clear. Once everyone could see the field, they saw that both Latios and Pikachu were down on the ground clearly out cold with swirls in their eyes._

_The referee looked at the scene before him and made his official announcement, "Both Latios and Pikachu are unable to battle, but since Pikachu was the green trainers last Pokémon he is out of useable Pokémon which makes Tobias the winner!"_

_End Flashback_

The way that battle ended kept making Ash rethink everything about it; "_Maybe if I used different Pokémon, then I would have been able to beat his Darkrai quicker. Maybe if I prepared more, then I would have been able to come up with a strategy to beat his Darkrai" _Ash thought to himself as he kept analyzing every aspect of that battle.

These thoughts and more kept flowing through Ash's mind. As he continued to go through the battle in his mind, he kept coming to the same conclusion which was simply _"I'm not strong enough."_

When Ash started to think about that aspect, it really put a new perspective on things. "_Every time I have made it somewhat far in any league I have participated in, there was always somebody else that would end up beating me. Ritchie, Harrison, Tyson, and now Tobias, I couldn't even make it to the finals in any of them so what is going to stop that from happening again?" _thought Ash.

"_I already know about Unova and sure I could go get some new Pokémon, make new friends and participate in the league there, but what happens when I meet somebody that I can't beat again? It would all just be a waste of time and I would usually be the last person to think that. Now though, I can't keep acting like I'm the best trainer in the world because I'm not and if I want to be the best, then maybe it's time for me to stop and get stronger so I don't have to feel this kind of pain again for myself and even more importantly my Pokémon" _continued Ash to himself.

With his mind made up Ash decided that he had done enough thinking for one night. He went to sleep with Pikachu lying at the foot of his bed without a care in the world.

* * *

Ash awoke the next morning to the wonderful smell of a probably delicious breakfast that his mother Delia Ketchum was making downstairs. Ash, knowing that food was waiting for him downstairs, got up from bed, stretched and got into his normal Sinnoh attire rather quickly before waking his best friend of 6 years.

"Pika…" said Pikachu lazily as he stretched on the bed before slapping its red cheeks to wake himself up. Once he has woken up, he climbed up onto Ash's shoulder. The two proceeded to head downstairs.

Once the pair made it downstairs and into the kitchen, Delia turned to Ash and said "Hello Ash! Your breakfast is on the table, how did you sleep last night?"

"Eh, I slept alright" said Ash, eating his breakfast. He was still somewhat sleepy from his mental reflections last night.

"Just alright? Usually when you go to sleep, you pass out like a log" said Delia while laughing light-heartedly.

"Yeah, I guess I wasn't really that tired though" said Ash as he continued eating Delia's delicious-as-always breakfast.

"Alright then Ash, if you say so. Anyway, what do you have planned for today? Asked Delia curiously.

"I think I'm going to go to Professor Oak's lab to work with my Pokémon for a while" said Ash as he finished his breakfast and as Pikachu was finishing his morning ketchup.

"Ok Ash. I'll be here doing the garden with Mimy while you're gone" said Delia. Upon hearing his name, Mr. Mime appeared in the window with a cheerful "Mr. Mime!"

Ash laughed at Mr. Mime's antics. He then brought his dish to the counter and proceeded to leave the kitchen while saying "Alright mom, I'm heading out. I should be back later on tonight."

"Alright honey, have fun!" Said Delia cheerfully as always.

With that Ash left the house and began walking on the road toward Professor Oak's lab all the while thinking about the decision he had come to last night.

Pikachu noticed that Ash was in deep thought as he rode on his shoulder as per usual. In response, he said softly "Pika…"

Upon hearing his best friend, Ash snapped out of his dream-like state and said "Oh sorry, Pikachu. I was just thinking."

"Pika…" said Pikachu in a more serious tone while crossing his small arms and giving Ash a look which basically said "Why are you acting like this?"

"Sorry buddy, I just have had a lot on my mind lately" said Ash looking down as he answered his faithful companion.

"Pika… Pikachu" said Pikachu which meant "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Because he had known Pikachu for so long and spent so much time with him during their experiences together, Ash was able to understand what Pikachu was trying to say.

Ash suddenly stopped and replied "I don't know, Pikachu. I just don't want to lose anymore. Every time we have gotten far in a league, we always end up losing to somebody that we met there while traveling. I've been thinking lately about all of the past battles we have fought together. While thinking, I realized that we always do the same thing in every region and because of that end up losing. Because of our constant failures, I've been hesitant upon going to Unova..."

Ash hesitated briefly as he gathered his thoughts. "To be honest, I just don't want to go to a new region just to suffer the same result all over again."

Ash continued by saying "Pikachu, it has always been you and me. Over the past six years, we have gone out and made many new friends, accomplished so many feats and even saved the world a couple times. However, I think that we are now at a point where we have to make a decision about our future. The thing is though... I'm not sure what to do."

"Pika pi…" said Pikachu, quietly understanding the situation that Ash was going through.

"Hey, don't worry buddy. I'm sure I'll figure out something. Now let's go to Professor Oak's lab and see everybody" said Ash cheerfully in an attempt to change the mood.

"Pika!" Yelled Pikachu while pumping a fist in the air, excited to see all of their friends again.

With that, Ash continued to walk towards Professor Oak's lab and before they knew it they were standing at the front door.

Ash knocked on the door and after about a minute the door opened to reveal the aged professor.

"Oh hello Ash. What can I do for you today?" Asked the professor.

"Hey Professor Oak, I came by because I wanted to train with my Pokémon today" said Ash.

"Ah that sounds like a very good idea as it is a beautiful day to do so. In fact, I am glad that you came by today because somebody is here looking for you" said Professor Oak with a smile.

"Who would that be?" Asked Ash curiously. Who would be looking for him?

"Well, what do we have here? It's good to see you again Ashy-boy" said the man who came up from behind Professor Oak.

Ash's eyes widened as he could recognize whose voice that was from anywhere. As the man made his way past Professor Oak to reveal himself, Ash whispered "Gary…"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright well that is the first chapter of my story and I hope that you all enjoyed it even though it was a bit short but trust me when I say that everything will get much longer!

Just wanted to throw out some information just in case some of you are confused about my writing. I'll always write in italics during a flashback or if a character is thinking to themselves or towards others like you may see in future chapters.

So like I said if you have read From Servant to Stardom by MisterP then this story is going to be familiar at first although once we start getting into the story more you will begin to see the several different changes that I'm going to be implementing into the story.

As always I will leave you with the name of the next chapter in the description!

**Crossroads Chapter 2: Help From A Rival**

That about it everyone so I'll see you later and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	2. Chapter 2 Help From A Rival

**Author's Note:**

What's going on everyone? I hope that you all had a good Christmas Eve/Christmas Day I know I did and as such I decided to post this chapter a bit early!

First I would also like to say thank you to everyone that either left a review, followed my story, or made it one of your favorites so thanks a lot I really want to try to get this story to be as big as it can be so spread the word!

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

Otherwise that's about it so I hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave a review, follow or favorite my story when you done!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 2: Help From A Rival**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash finally realized that in order for him to create a future for himself and his Pokémon he needed to stop and get stronger and also met up with his old rival Gary at Professor Oak's lab._

* * *

_Professor Oak's Laboratory – Kanto Region_

"Gary… what are you doing here?" Asked Ash. He was somewhat shocked to see his old rival after such a long time.

"Well what can I say Ashy-boy? I heard you were in town so naturally I had to stop by and see you" answered Gary in his usual cocky tone.

"Alright, since I see both of you are now reacquainted, I'll leave you be as I have some important work to take care off at the moment. I will see you boys later" said Professor Oak as cheerful as ever.

"Alright Gramps, I'll make sure little Ashy-boy over here doesn't get into too much trouble" said Gary with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, we'll see who's the one getting himself into trouble" grumbled Ash while Gary and Professor Oak just laughed. The aged professor bid the boy's goodbye once again and closed the door leaving the pair to themselves.

"What did you stop by here for anyway Ash?" Asked Gary.

"Well I wanted to check up on my Pokémon. But now that you're here, I guess I just have to beat you senseless in a battle first!" Yelled Ash pointing a finger a Gary.

"Oh, don't you worry, Ashy-boy. I didn't come all this way to sit around and do nothing all day. You will get your battle, but before we do that, there was something I wanted to talk with you about" said Gary.

"Oh really? What might that be?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Here let's take a walk, follow me" said Gary. From his facial expression, it didn't look like he would be taking no for an answer.

"Alright, whatever you say. Pikachu, why don't you go hang out with everyone while I go talk with Gary." said Ash. Pikachu responded by jumping off Ash's shoulder and running towards Professor Oak's backyard where most of Ash's Pokémon were kept.

Once Pikachu was out of sight, Ash followed Gary down the steps of Professor Oak's lab and they began walking along the path which led into the forest behind the laboratory.

After about five minutes of walking, Ash finally asked "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" He was now really curious and he wanted to find out what Gary was being so secretive about.

Gary simply ignored Ash's question and fired right back by asking "So how was the Sinnoh league?"

Upon hearing Gary's question, Ash froze up for a second before responding quickly by saying "Everything went fine… I mean I made it to the top four so I'm definitely happy with that!" Exclaimed Ash, knowing that his lie was easy to see through.

"Really? I find that hard to believe after what happened with Tobias" said Gary, seeing straight through Ash's lie. He seemed to be acting more seriously than normal.

"Well, what can I say? He was just better than me. I mean, he had a Darkrai and Latios so there was no way that I could ha..."

Ash was shut up rather quickly when Gary yelled at him "What kind of excuse is that supposed to be!"

In all the years that Ash knew Gary, he had never seen Gary as angry as he was now. Gary continued by saying "Ash, you were publicly embarrassed! I mean six-two! Come on! I get that both of Tobias's Pokémon were legendary but still! Don't you feel bad about how everything turned out!?"

Ash looked at Gary with wide eyes and then looked away from him. As he did so, he noticed that they wound up next to the river where they split that Poke ball so many years ago.

"Well Ash!? What do you have to say for yourself?" Asked Gary angrily. Why wouldn't Ash answer him?

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Asked Ash softly while looking towards the ground, not wanting to meet Gary's eyes.

"Why do I care? I care because I know that the Ash that participated in that match and the one standing right in front of me isn't the same Ash that beat me in the Silver Conference back in Johto!"

Upon hearing that, Ash's eyes widened as he realized that what Gary was saying was right.

"What happened to that Ash, the Ash that wouldn't let anything stand in his way, the Ash whose dream it was to be a Pokémon Master, where is that Ash!?" Yelled Gary once again.

"I… I don't know… I'm just tired of losing. First, it was Ritchie in Kanto. Then it was Harrison in Johto, Tyson in Hoenn, and now the worst loss of my career to Tobias in Sinnoh. I just feel that if I go to a new region, everything will just turn out the same way as before and I don't want myself or my Pokémon to feel that way anymore" said Ash softly with his head now facing towards the river.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Asked Gary wanting to know Ash's answer.

"I don't know… I just want to get stronger, but I feel that if I go to Unova, then I will just be pushing myself further away from that goal and I won't get anywhere" said Ash as he tried to figure out what he really wanted.

"Then if that's the case, how will you make yourself stronger?" Asked Gary. He knew that this was the question that Ash was struggling with himself to answer.

Upon hearing the question, Ash looked at Gary and saw that he had calmed down considerably. However, he still had a serious look on his face and when Ash tried to formulate an answer to his question, nothing came out.

Seeing Ash in this kind of state was definitely weird for Gary but he also knew that this is a crucial time in Ash's life as a trainer. Knowing this, he said "Look Ash, I became a Pokémon researcher because that was truly the job that I was passionate about. I mean sure, being a Pokémon trainer was great and battling in the huge stadiums was something that I'll never forget about, but you helped me realize that being a Pokémon Trainer wasn't what I wanted to do with my life."

Gary continued to speak as he could tell that Ash was listening intently to him. "You helped me change my entire outlook on what Pokémon were all about. Not only that, but you helped me become a better person in the process. After you left Johto, you became a mentor for May and Dawn which is great. However, over the past couple years; you have been the one that hasn't gotten that much help because they and Brock don't know how to help you. A trainer, somebody like myself, can help you. Ash, you're right on the door step to doing great things, but nobody becomes great without a little help along the way. So, let me help you take that first step because God knows you deserve it from me after all these years."

After hearing all that from Gary, Ash looked back towards the ground and said softly "Gary… I need your help…"

In response, Gary just gave his usual smirk and said "Good! Now, you and I are going to have a battle once we get back to my Grandpa's lab!"

At that Ash's head shot up and a smirk almost immediately came upon his face as he said "Alright Gary you're on! Just know that I don't intend on going easy on you!"

"Hey! Just because I have been a Pokémon researcher for a couple of years now doesn't mean in the slightest that I have lost my battling edge at all. Do you not recall what happened the time before you left for Sinnoh when you battled against my Electivire?" Asked Gary with his classic smirk now clearly shown on his face.

"Oh I remember and this time, there is no way I am going to let you get the best of me! Let's go so I can officially put into the record books that I, Ash Ketchum, am the best trainer in Pallet Town!" Yelled Ash, already running back towards the lab to battle Gary.

As Gary watched Ash run off, he thought to himself "_What am I going to do with him? This is not going to be easy for either of us. However, if it weren't for him, then I never would have gotten to where I am today. So, I am going to do everything that I can to make sure the he fulfills all of his dreams. Rival or not, in the end he is kind of like the brother that I never had"._

With that, Gary ran off after Ash to begin what could be the first real step of a new Pokémon Master.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter of Crossroads!

Now I wanted to get this chapter out before Christmas so I can enjoy that with my family then I'll get back to writing after then the next chapter should be out by Friday or Saturday!

That's about it so leave a review, follow, favorite whatever you want but regardless thanks a lot and I will leave you will the name for the next chapter and it should be pretty obvious hahaha.

**Crossroads Chapter 3: A Rivalry Renewed!**

That about it everyone so I'll see you later and have a great Christmas!  
Cyclone20


	3. Chapter 3 A Rivalry Renewed!

**Author's Note:**

What's going on everyone? I hope that you all had a great Christmas with whatever you might have done and now that Christmas is done and over with it's time for the next chapter of Crossroads.

If you left a review, followed my story, or made it one of your favorites, thanks a lot I really appreciate it as this story is for you guys so keep bringing in the feedback! So far this story already has over 500 views in just 2 chapters and I think that's awesome so keep it up everyone!

If you would like to know more about me in general or check out my favorite stories, answer my Poll question for fun or whatever it may be go there because I have made it look very nice for everybody hahaha.

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

Otherwise that's about it so enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 3: A Rivalry Renewed!**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash and Gary had a much needed talk about what Ash needed to do to become a better trainer and now they are going to have a battle._

* * *

_Professor Oak's Laboratory – Kanto Region_

Once the pair made it back to Professor Oak's lab, they went inside to alert the Professor of their upcoming showdown.

"Hey Gramps! Ashy-boy and I are going to have a battle. Would you mind being the referee?" Asked Gary once he and Ash made it to his office.

"Why sure, Gary! Since Tracy is away on a research project, I would be happy to take a break for a little while to be the referee for your battle!" Said Professor Oak as cheerful as ever.

"Great! Ash and I will be in the back deciding which Pokémon we want to use" said Gary, motioning to the backyard with his right hand.

"Alright boys, I'll be out in a minute." said the Professor. With that, the pair walked out to the backyard only to await the stampede of Pokémon that hurtled themselves toward Ash.

"Muk!" "Bay Bay!" Yelled Ash's two most physically loveable Pokémon as Muk and Bayleef pounced upon Ash once he entered the backyard.

"Hey, hey! It's good to see you guys too! Haha!" Said Ash cheerfully. He then continued to greet all of his other Pokémon that came to welcome him home.

"Alright, so which Pokémon are you going to pick Ash? I already happen to know which Pokémon I am going to use" said Gary.

"Hmm… that's a good question? When I think about it, I actually have no idea who I should use" said a puzzled Ash. Who should he pick?

"Here, I have an idea! Why not use some of your Pokémon that you haven't battled with in a while?" Suggested Professor Oak who just came through the back door.

"Yeah that's a great idea!" Exclaimed Ash. "Even so, I'm still not sure who I should use" said Ash just as confused and dense as ever.

Ash's question was quickly answered as both of the Pokémon that jumped on Ash earlier began to exclaim how much they wanted to battle by tackling Ash once again.

Ash laughed at the situation and said "Alright! Well it seems like I have to go with Muk and Bayleef now!"

"Which is the last Pokémon you will select, Ash?" Asked Gary curiously.

"TORKOAL!" Cried the coal Pokémon as he came running through the crowd of Pokémon and hurled itself at Ash.

"Whoa! Hmm, I wonder why Torkoal wants to battle so bad?" Asked Ash.

"I think it's because Torkoal wants to redeem itself for the way it performed in the Sinnoh League" said Professor Oak wisely.

"Is that true, Torkoal?" Asked Ash.

"TORKOAL!" It cried again even louder than before and Ash, Gary, and Professor Oak couldn't help but to laugh at the scene.

"Well there you go Gary. It looks like I'm ready to go!" Said Ash confidently.

"Very well, Ashy-boy. Now let's get this battle started!" Said Gary and with that the three-headed to the open spot in the backyard where all the battles at the laboratory were held.

Both Ash and Gary stood at opposite ends of the grass/normal-like field with Professor Oak standing in the middle.

The aged Professor raised his hands and said "This battle will be a three on three battle with no time limit and no substitutions. The first trainer to lose all three of his Pokémon will be defeated. Now if both of you are ready, then begin the battle!"

"Alright, Bayleef. I choose you!" Yelled Ash and pointed his finger towards the field and Bayleef ran out eagerly.

"Bay Bay!" She cried as Bayleef got herself ready to battle.

"Alright Ash you might be expecting this one. But regardless, let's go Umbreon!" Yelled Gary as he released the dark type eeveelution from its Pokeball.

"Umbri…" it called softly while analyzing its opponent.

Professor Oak look at both Pokémon and decided to begin the battle by announcing Umbreon VS Bayleef, begin!"

"Alright Ash, you have the first move" called Gary.

Ash responded by yelling "With pleasure Gary! Now Bayleef, start it off with Razor Leaf!"

With that, the battle began as Bayleef immediately jumped into the air and swerved its head downwards which shot a barrage of sharp leaves towards Umbreon.

"Umbreon, blow right through those leaves with your Dark Pulse!" Called Gary. Right on command, Umbreon created a dark ball of energy in its mouth and fired it as a beam of rings into the incoming razor leaves which burned them to a crisp. The attack continued its path straight towards Bayleef where the attack directly hit.

"Bayleef, stabilize yourself quickly and use vine whip!" Roared Ash. As Bayleef was falling to the ground, she was able to stabilize itself in mid-air and fire a pair of vines from its neck which hooked themselves onto Umbreon.

"Good! Now throw Umbreon!" Yelled Ash.

"Umbreon, don't let it throw you!" commanded Gary. He didn't want Ash to gain the upper hand.

Umbreon dug its claws into the ground but was unable to keep himself there as Bayleef's powerful vines launched Umbreon into the sky.

"Yes! Now hit it with Energy Ball while it can't move!" Yelled Ash trying to seize the opportunity.

Bayleef, upon command, created a large green ball of pure energy in its mouth and fired it toward the now falling Umbreon.

"Alright Umbreon, now stabilize yourself and use double team while in mid-air!" Called Gary with a smirk on his face.

"What! There should be no way that Umbreon should be able to use any kinds of moves while falling!" Yelled Ash, shocked.

"Well sorry, Ashy-boy, but this isn't just your average Umbreon. Alright, do it now!" Yelled Gary.

As the Energy Ball was about to hit Umbreon, Umbreon stabilized itself in mid-air and a spectator could see Umbreon's body illuminate itself a bit. As a result, the attack flied straight through the Umbreon clone that took the original's place.

"Good! Now hit Bayleef from behind with your Shadow Claw!" Yelled Gary as he pumped his fist, eager for his plan to work.

As he said that, the real Umbreon appeared behind Bayleef ready to strike it down. However, Ash wasn't done just quite yet.

"Quick Bayleef, use your Vine Whip to jump before it hits you!" Roared Ash desperately in an attempt to get Bayleef out of harm's way.

As a result, Bayleef was able to escape with only getting a light slash on its side from Umbreon's Shadow Claw before it propelled itself into the air using its powerful vines.

"Nice Bayleef! Now pin it down with Body Slam!" Yelled Ash seeing that the momentum was back on his side.

Gary, seeing that there was no way out of this situation, yelled quickly "Umbreon shoot your Dark Pulse straight up into Bayleef!"

"Sorry Gary, not going to work! Bayleef, Body Slam full power!" Called Ash triumphantly.

As Bayleef was heading down towards Umbreon, Umbreon quickly lifted its head and shot the powerful black beam into Bayleef. However, it hardly slowed down Bayleef as it came down on Umbreon hard, creating an explosion from hitting the base of Umbreon's Dark Pulse.

As the smoke cleared somehow, someway, it showed an exhausted Umbreon standing atop an out cold Bayleef with swirls in its eyes.

"Bayleef is unable to battle, the winner is Umbreon!" Called Professor Oak.

"WHAT! No way, that's impossible! Bayleef hit Umbreon full force with Body Slam! How didn't that work?!" Complained Ash as he had no idea what happen.

"Well you see Ash, the damage compiled from the Dark Pulse at the beginning, plus being half hit by Shadow Claw, than hitting the base of Umbreon's Dark Pulse at the end was just too much for Bayleef to take. You need to better assess how much damage your Pokémon has taken throughout the match. Although if that were me in your position, I probably would have just gone with using the body slam too" explained Gary, trying to help his rival.

Ash was about to respond but Professor Oak cut in and said "You know Ash, Gary is right about needing to know how much damage your Pokémon has taken throughout the battle. Being a trainer, you should be trying to master all the different aspects of battling."

Ash now understanding what happened recalled Bayleef to her Pokeball and said "Yes I know Professor but it's still only the first battle. I'm not done yet Gary and I'm going to show you right now! Torkoal I choose you!"

On command Torkoal ran out to the center of the field from where he was standing on the sideline.

"TOR-KOAL!" The Coal Pokémon cried as it released an large amount of steam from its nose.

Professor Oak looked at both Pokémon and called "Umbreon VS Torkoal, begin!"

"Torkoal, Flamethrower! Yelled Ash as Torkoal released a torrent on flames from its mouth towards Umbreon.

"Umbreon, counter it with Dark Pulse!" Called Gary and Umbreon fired the familiar black beam towards the incoming flamethrower.

As the two attacks hit each other, a battle for early dominance ensued. As time wore on, however, Torkoal would not let the attack that overpowered him in the Sinnoh League overpower him today. In response, he released an extra burst of heat from his mouth and as such was able to overpower the Dark Pulse.

After Umbreon was pushed back from the Flamethrower, Gary quickly responding by yelling out "Umbreon, push Torkoal back with Shadow Claw!"

Ash, however, was ready for Gary's attack as he called out in response "Torkoal, Iron Defense!"

Torkoal, seeing that Umbreon was incoming with Night Slash, quickly hid inside its armor-like shell which glowed brightly for a second before dimming down. Umbreon's came down as hard as it could on Torkoal outer shell, but the effects of the attack were next to nothing as it seemed that no outer damage had been done.

"Perfect Torkoal! Now, release from your shell and use Heat Wave and follow it up with Body Slam!" Yelled Ash. He knew that this could be his chance to wrap it up.

Upon command, Torkoal came out from its shell and fired a very hot wave of fire towards Umbreon. It so happened to be very close to Torkoal which therefore pushed it back several feet. Once Umbreon was pushed away, Torkoal used its legs to jump into the air and land directly on the exhausted Umbreon.

Gary, who could do next to nothing to stop Torkoal's powerful string of attacks, could merely look on as Torkoal removed itself from Umbreon to reveal it out cold with swirls in its eyes.

"Umbreon is unable to battle, which makes Torkoal the winner!" Announced Professor Oak.

"Yes! That's the way to do it Torkoal!" Yelled Ash with a thumbs up.

"TORKOAL!" It cried flooding the area around it in tears.

Gary recalled Umbreon to her Pokeball gave her praise and said "I'll admit Ash that, that was pretty good. However, I know that you have always had a problem with my next Pokémon so here he is! Scizor let's go!" As he finished speaking, he released Pincer Pokémon from its Pokeball.

"Scizor…" said Scizor calmly upon being released as it got itself ready to battle.

Ash knew that he had a hard time against Gary's Scizor in the Silver Conference, but what didn't make sense was why he would use it against a Pokémon that did even more damage against it than usual?

"Why are you using Scizor against my Torkoal? You know fire types do a lot of damage against Bug/Steel types right?" Asked Ash.

"Of course I know that Ashy-boy. I mean, why would I use a Pokémon like Scizor if I didn't have a plan in the first place? I guess you will just have to find out" Said Gray confidently.

With that said Professor Oak decided to begin the next match by saying "Torkoal VS Scizor begin!"

"Torkoal, Flamethrower! Yelled Ash. He wanted to start this battle off right. Torkoal followed Ash's commands by firing a stream of flames right toward Scizor.

"Scizor, evade it with Agility, and then go in with Metal Claw!" Yelled Gary right back.

Upon Gary's command, Scizor rushed forward while evading all of the incoming streams of flames while Torkoal kept trying to lock-on to the speedy Scizor. However, Scizor just had too much speed from being fresh out of his Pokeball. Seconds later, he was able to strike Torkoal right in the face which sent the coal Pokémon skidding across the ground several feet.

"Torkoal, shake it off and use Heat Wave!" Yelled Ash. Torkoal then quickly lifted its head and fired a wave of extremely hot fire toward Scizor.

"Scizor, evade that by jumping high in the air!" Called Gary. Scizor complied by jumping and using its bug-like wings to get high into air in order to avoid the incoming Heat Wave.

"Perfect I knew you would do that! Now Torkoal, Overheat!" Roared Ash while point his finger to exactly where Scizor would pop up over the Heat Wave.

Torkoal leaned its head back before pushing it forward and launching an tremendously big whitish-red beam from its mouth, which had incredible heat radiating off it, toward Scizor who just revealed itself over the Heat Wave.

"SCIZOR, get away NOW!" Roared Gary. He knew that if Scizor got hit with a direct hit from that Overheat, then it would be all over.

Scizor, using its incredible speed, managed to get away from most of the beam. However, the Overheat came as such a fast velocity that Scizor was unable to dodge the full attack.

"Alright Torkoal you got him!" Cheered Ash. He knew that he probably did a substantial amount of damage and probably took Scizor out.

"I wouldn't cheer just yet if I were you Ash! Scizor Flash Cannon while he's distracted!" Yelled Gary, trying to seize the opportunity.

Ash though wasn't as distracted as he lead on and quickly retaliated by saying "Torkoal, counter with Flamethrower!"

On command, the two Pokémon fired their elemental beam towards each other. However, because of Torkoal being weakened by using Overheat, Scizor's Flash Cannon was easily able to overpower Torkoal's fire attack.

"Torkoal no! Are you alright?" Asked Ash after Torkoal skidded backwards closer to its trainer.

"Tor…KOAL!" It cried proudly as it blew more steam from its nose.

"Alright then Torkoal here we go! It's time for a new a new strategy! Now use Body Slam to get close to Scizor!" Called Ash proudly.

Torkoal obliged by launching itself like a bullet towards Scizor and turning its back towards it so he could hit Scizor with his shell.

"Scizor, punch it with Crush Claw!" Roared Gary. In response, Scizor powered up its left claw as it illuminated with a bright white glow.

Scizor then released its raw power, punching Torkoal as it was about it hit him. It stopped the coal Pokémon in its tracks and created a shockwave from the sheer impact.

"Alright now Torkoal, use Heat Wave to launch yourself into the air!" Yelled Ash. Torkoal emerged from its shell with its head faced towards the ground. It then proceeded to fire its Heat Wave onto the ground in front of Scizor which propelled it into the air.

"Arggh what are you up to Ash?! Ugh never mind; Scizor fire your Flash Cannon at it" Yelled an annoyed Gary.

Ignoring Gary's commands, Ash now roared out as out as he could "Torkoal, stabilize yourself and use Overheat at max power!"

Despite Scizor's Flash Cannon which was already heading Torkoal's way, Torkoal managed to stabilize itself in mid-air and fire its powerful flame-like beam towards the incoming Flash Cannon. The power of the attack was like a knife cutting through butter as it sliced through the Flash Cannon and engulfed Scizor completely.

"Scizor NO!" Yelled Gary. He could do nothing but watch as Scizor was completely engulfed by the most powerful fire type attack he knew of.

Once the attack diminished and the flames died down, it was obvious that Scizor was beaten as it released a puff of smoke from its mouth and crumbed to the ground in a charred hunk of what it once was with swirls in its eyes.

"Scizor is unable to battle which means that Torkoal wins again!" Announced Professor Oak.

"Alright Torkoal! That's two in a row!" Cheered Ash loudly. All the while, you could only hear Torkoal crying a loud as ever from its second consecutive victory.

"Wow who would have thought that Torkoal could have won two in a row? That's remarkable if you ask me" said Professor Oak with a smile on his face.

"Yeah! You were right about Torkoal wanting to redeem itself after the Sinnoh League" said Ash agreeing with the Professor. This really just made Torkoal cry even louder if it was even possible.

While Ash was talking to Professor Oak, Gary had already recalled Scizor and said "Well I gotta say Ash, you're impressing me so far, but I'm afraid that it's time for me to turn up the heat myself!"

"Alright! Bring it on Gary!" Said Ash confidently.

"You're going to wish you never said that, Ashy-boy. Now Magmortar let's go!" Called Gary as he released the mighty Blast Pokémon onto the field.

"Mag-MORTAR!" Roared the Blast Pokémon as it looked more than ready to go a couple rounds.

"Ah, well, well, well when did you get a Magmortar, Gary? I wasn't aware that Magmar evolved?" Asked Professor Oak curiously.

Gary just laughed and said "I evolved it in Sinnoh when I was digging through Mt. Coronet, but that's a story for another time."

"Alright Gary if you say so. Anyway though, Magmortar VS Torkoal, Begin!" Announced Professor Oak.

"_Torkoal has gotta be really low on energy so I gotta try and finish this fast"_thought Ash to himself and then announced "Torkoal Overheat quick!"

"Come on Ash! Don't try and push your luck like that. Anyway, Magmortar use Flamethrower!" Called Gary calmly.

Torkoal shot out another fire-like beam from its mouth. However, anyone could tell at a glance that it was much weaker than before. The nice and fresh Magmortar however had no problem breaking through. Its Flamethrower cut right through Torkoal's Overheat like how Torkoal's broke through Scizor's Flash Cannon in the previous round.

"Good! Now finish it with Hyper Beam!" Called Gary with a smirk on his face.

Magmortar created a ball of colorful energy in its cannon-like arms which glowed brighter and brighter every second until Magmortar pushed the ball forward. It then fired like a beam right towards Torkoal.

"Torkoal try to defend yourself with Iron Defense!" Roared Ash but it was too late as the powerful beam already completely engulfed Torkoal, sending the turtle flying back behind Ash and into a tree. After the beam dissipated, Torkoal was left in a slouched heap with swirls in its eyes.

"Torkoal is unable to battle and Magmortar is the winner!" Announced Professor Oak.

Ash recalled Torkoal and made sure he knew what an awesome job he did today. This might have been one of the best performances he has ever put on.

"Now that is one powerful Magmortar. It's probably just as strong as Paul's if not stronger" said Ash, recalling Paul's Magmortar's strength.

"Well I wouldn't doubt it; I've had Magmar now Magmortar since about halfway through my first journey and it's been 6 years since then so its no surprise really" said Gary cockily.

"Oh really? Well how about I bring out one of the Pokémon I've had since my first journey? Muk let's go, I choose you! Yelled Ash while once again pointing out onto the field.

"Muk… MUK!" Cried Muk as it slid its way onto the field.

"Alright well if you're both ready to begin final battle for today then let's do it! Muk VS Magmortar, Begin! Announced Professor Oak.

"Muk, Sludge Bomb!" Called Ash quickly trying to gain the early edge. However, Gary was going to have no part in that.

Gary fired right back by calling out "Magmortar, counter it with Rock Tomb!"

As the dozens of sludge pellets made their way towards Magmortar, Magmortar shot four purple orbs from its cannon-like arms towards the ground which expanded into huge rock formations. The rock formations turned out to be more than a match for the Sludge Bomb as it was able to ward away the incoming attack.

"Alright well if Sludge Bomb is no good, than I guess we'll just have to get in close with Shadow Punch!" Yelled Ash.

Muk then created a big fist from its poison body which glowed with a dark black aura. Muk then proceeded to make a punching motion which fired a 'Shadow Punch' towards Magmortar which took the hit as the attack was unavoidable.

"Alright Magmortar, let him have his fun. Shake it off and use Sunny Day" Called Gary which made Ash cringe because that would give all fire type moves a big power boost.

Magmortar raised one of its cannon-like arms towards the sky and fired a red orb like a missile which instantly caused the field to feel much hotter like there were at the beach.

"Alright now that you're all fired up use Flare Blitz!" Called Gary with a smirk as Magmortar engulfed itself in red hot fire which after a few seconds turned a light blue from it being so hot. Magmortar then began to charge towards Muk.

"Muk, hold it off with Acid Armor!" Yelled Ash hoping that the defense increase would be enough to hold Magmortar off. Muk then proceeded to glow an icy aurora color that engulfed its entire body increasing its defense power substantially.

Magmortar than crashed into Muk, but the Acid Armor held firm and it soon became a power struggle of who would give in first. Bit by bit, however, Magmortar began pushing Muk further and further back. Ash decided that was enough and ordered "Muk, use Sludge Bomb since Magmortar is right in front of you!"

In order for Muk to use Sludge Bomb, Muk had to give up some of the strength it was using to hold off Magmortar. However, as soon as Muk opened its mouth, a torrent of sludge pellets fired from it. This caused Magmortar to bombarded by an infinite barrage of sludge bombs.

Regardless of the attack, Magmortar was now able to push Muk further back. Soon, Magmortar was able to push Muk into the ground which stopped the Sludge Bomb attack, but also caused an explosion. When the smoke cleared, both Pokémon were still standing but breathing heavily.

"I'm not letting you win this battle Ash! Magmortar, Overheat!" Roared Gary, now with an intense amount of determination on his face. This was it.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that! I am the one that is going to win this battle Gary! Muk, Hyper Beam!" Bellowed Ash. He also knew that this would probably be the last shot he had at beating Gary's Magmortar.

Both Pokémon charged up their respective attacks as Magmortar flung its cannon-like arms forward and firing out the same flame-like beam that Torkoal emitted but probably even stronger than his.

Muk on the other hand created two poison like hands and along with its wide mouth created the same colorful ball as before but fired it as a beam right towards the incoming Overheat.

The two powerful elemental beams met at the center of the field and upon contact, the two beams began to fight for control. Several times, it looked like either side was going to break, but when the overall power became too much, the beams overloaded and exploded in the middle of the field. It sent a shockwave that could be felt from anywhere in Pallet Town.

It took a couple of minutes for the smoke to clear but when it did, the result was obvious.

"Both Muk and Magmortar are unable to battle which means that this match is a draw! Great work to both of you. This was a fantastic battle!" Announced Professor Oak. True to his word, both Magmortar and Muk were on the ground with swirls in their eyes.

Both trainers returned their Pokémon to their Pokeballs and after giving them praise on a great battle, Ash said "Aww man, I really just wanted to beat you straight up this time."

"Hey don't worry about it Ash. I'm sure that we will have another battle sooner than you think" said Gary who had come over for a handshake.

Ash accepted the handshake and asked "What do you mean by that, Gary?"

Before Gary answered, he took a look at Professor Oak who nodded his head, affirming the silent question Gary asked. Gary turned back to face Ash and said "Well, what I mean is that I ran into somebody that I would say you are pretty familiar with."

"Somebody that I'm familiar with? Like who?" Asked Ash as curious as ever. Who could Gary mean?

"You know, Scott?" Asked Gary with a smirk.

"Do I know a Scott….." Ash pondered, searching his memory. Suddenly, Ash's eyes grew as wide as ever as the realization dawned on him.

"Wait... You mean Scott from the Battle Frontier?!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I have decided to cut it there for today as I believe that is as any a good time to cut it. Anyway, don't you all think Torkoal is awesome?! He was basically trash in the Sinnoh League so I felt like I had to give him so love here so what do you think?

If you can leave a review, favorite, or follow this story it all really does mean a lot to me so if you could drop me a review on your thoughts of the story then that would be awesome!

Other than that if you need me for anything, my profile page is always being updated now and I always reply to PMs so don't be shy to PM me if you have any questions!

As always here is the next chapter!

**Crossroads Chapter 4: The Choice That Starts It All!**

That about it everyone so I'll see you later and as always have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	4. Chapter 4 The Choice That Starts It All!

**Author's Note:**

What's going on everyone? Well the chapters are rolling out pretty fast now which is great because I really like the way that this story is turning out! After chapter 3 the views on this story doubled so were at over 1000 views now which is awesome and I'm really glad that you are all enjoying the story!

As always, thank you to all of you that reviewed, followed my story, or made it one of your favorites, I really appreciate it!

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

That's about it so enjoy the chapter everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 4: The Choice That Starts It All!**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash and Gary had a 3v3 battle which ended up being decided as a draw. After the battle Gary began to tell Ash about Scott and the Battle Frontier._

* * *

_Professor Oak's Laboratory – Kanto Region_

"You mean Scott from the Battle Frontier?!" Asked a startled Ash. He really wanted to find out what in the world Gary was talking about.

"Yup, that's the one alright. I met Scott awhile back because he wanted me to tryout the Battle Frontier. Sorry for not telling you sooner Ashy-boy, but at the time that was confidential information" said Gary while sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"WHAT?! When did this happen?!" Asked Ash frantically. He was now extremely interested on what he was hearing.

"Well one day, when I was working in Sinnoh on a research project that supposedly is able to evolve Eevee into Glaceon, I ran into Scott just outside of Snowpoint City. Scott said he was looking for the same thing. He needed to get a piece of it to bring home with him. Supposedly, the shard we found is now at the Battle Frontier headquarters being examined" said Gary informatively.

"Alright, alright Gary, would you get to the story already!?" Asked a now frustrated Ash.

"Alright jeez, cool your head Ashy-boy. Anyway, while we were looking for the stone, I told Scott about who I was and the first thing he asked me was if I knew you Ashy-boy" said Gary.

"Really?! What did you say?" Asked Ash.

"Well I said that of course I knew you! From there, we got into a whole conversation about how you challenged the mighty Battle Frontier defeating each of its members one by one until you came to the last two members Anabel and the secret leader which he couldn't tell me about because of Battle Frontier policy, who you had a little more trouble with but still managed to win against. By the time we were done talking, we had already found the stone and were heading back to Snowpoint City. Once we got back to the city, Scott asked me that if I would be interested in taking a break from my research and challenging the Battle Frontier once I got back to Kanto" said Gary.

"No way! Well did you decide to do it?" Asked Ash eagerly as it seemed he was full of questions today.

Gary didn't respond. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a badge case. He then proceeded to open it and the contents inside made Ash's mouth drop.

"NO WAY! You already have five of the Frontier Symbols!?" Yelled an extremely surprised Ash.

Ash was not mistaken as within the badge case held the Guts, Tactics, Spirit, Knowledge, and Luck Symbols respectively.

"Wow Gary, I almost can't believe that you already have five symbols. However, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised either knowing you" said Ash.

"Come on Ashy-boy, I mean what did you expect? It is me we're talking about after all!" Said Gary with a smirk as he closed and pocketed his Frontier badge case.

"Anyway, it's great that you're doing the Battle Frontier Gary, but why are telling me now?" Asked Ash.

Gary just shook his head and said "Come on Ash! Don't you remember the offer they gave to you? Scott told me all about how after you beat the secret leader, he asked you if you wanted to become a Frontier Brain although you declined because you said you could never stay in one place at a time. Well, now I figure would be a perfect time to take Scott up on his offer!" Said Gary hoping to encourage Ash to take to position.

"I don't know Gary… I mean being something like that has just never appealed to me before in my life. Why should I do this now? Asked Ash.

"Why do you think Ash? This would be a perfect chance for you to become stronger! Getting to learn from the other Frontier Brains about how to conduct yourself, growing up Ash, isn't that what you want to do?" Asked Gary.

Before Ash could respond, Professor Oak came up from behind Gary and said "Ash, if I may, I think I am going to have to go with my grandson about this. My reasoning is simple; I have watched you grow up from a small child and I think of you as another son to me. This is a chance for you to experience other aspects of life that will help you become a better person. I feel that if you take this position, you will grow up into the man that everyone is waiting for you become. We all know that you have the ability to do so, Ash."

"You really think I should do this?" Asked Ash now looking right at Professor Oak.

"Ash, this could be one of the most important decisions of your life because of where you are as a trainer and I believe that this is the right choice!" Said Professor Oak confidently all the while keeping the same cheerful smile on his face.

Ash looked from Professor Oak back to Gary who gave him a thumbs up and finally said "Alright, Gary do you have Scotts number? I would like to give him a call" said Ash with a smile now as he realized that this is something that he had to do.

"Here, I have his number on my videophone inside. You are more than welcome to talk to him for as long as you like" said Professor Oak. With that Ash, Gary and Professor Oak went back inside so Ash could make his call.

Once they were in Professor Oak's office, Oak gave Ash the number and he and Gary stepped out of the room so Ash could make the call.

Ash, deciding to not waste any time, immediately punched in Scott's number. After a few rings Scott picked up and said "This is Scott of the Battle Frontier, who may I ask is calling?"

"Hey Scott, it's me Ash Ketchum!" Said Ash enthusiastically.

"Hey! What's going on Ash? How has everything been my friend?" Asked Scott as he was excited to see Ash's face after such a long time.

"Everything has been great! The reason why I called was because I wanted to ask you something" said Ash.

"Ask away my friend, anything for one of the only people who have ever beaten the Battle Frontier in its history" said Scott with a smile.

"Well umm…. I was kind of wondering if it was too late to take you up on your offer to become a Frontier Brain. I completely understand if it's too late as I have just been really busy with going to Sinnoh and participating in the league over there" asked Ash while scratching the back of his head.

"Hmm I don't know Ash. It has been awhile since you beat Brandon and a lot of good trainers have come through the Battle Frontier since you left" said Scott while rubbing his chin.

"Really oh… I understand. Well thank you anyw…"

Ash was cut off by Scott's laughter. Once he finished laughing, he said "Ah come on Ash! Of course my offer to join the Battle Frontier is still valid. I was lying when I said that a lot of good trainers have come through recently. Nobody that has participated in the Battle Frontier has been as skilled as you. It would be an honor if you would become a Frontier Brain!" Announced Scott proudly.

"Wow really?! Thanks a lot Scott! I really appreciate it!" Said a now excited Ash.

"Well you are most welcome kid. Now in order to for you to begin your Frontier Brain training, I'll need you to come to the Battle Frontier Headquarters in Vermillion City. If you can get there by 6:00 PM tomorrow, that would be great!" said Scott.

"You got it Scott I'll be there at 6:00 PM on the dot!" Said now a very excited Ash.

"Excellent! Well then now that, that is all settled, I'll be seeing you tomorrow Ash" said Scott as he bid Ash goodbye.

"Alright, see ya Scott" replied Ash and with that cut off the connection with his now new boss.

Ash got up and exited Professor Oak's office to see Gary and Professor Oak waiting for him outside. Professor Oak then asked "how did it go Ash?"

"He said that they would be honored to have me join the Battle Frontier and that they will be expecting me to be in Vermillion City tomorrow at 6:00 PM!" Announced Ash excitedly.

"Alright! Congratulations Ash!" Said both Gary and Professor Oak.

"Thanks a lot I really appreciate it. If you don't mind Professor, there is another call I would like to make." Asked Ash.

"Not a problem at all my boy. I'll just be in my lab working on a project that I have just recently started" said that Professor.

"Here Gramps, I'll come with you as I want to see what you have been working on as well" said Gary. With that the pair walked off while discussing Professor Oak's new project. Ash went back to the videophone dialed in another number and waited for it to answer.

Once the man picked up, he saw Ash and said "Hey Ash! How has everything been going?"

"Hi Brock! Everything is going great! I wanted to give you a call because I wanted you to be the first person to know about what I'm going to do" said Ash with a smile.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Asked Brock.

"Well… I'm going to be a Frontier Brain!" Said Ash excitedly.

"No way?! Really Ash? When did you make this decision?" Asked Brock, now very curious about why Ash chose to become a Frontier Brain.

"Haha, it's kind of a long story but anyway it started off like this…" Ash then proceeded to tell Brock about everything that just happened from Gary talking to him at the river, all the way to him just calling Scott about the Frontier Brain position.

"That's really about it, so what do you think about my decision Brock?" Asked Ash.

"Honestly Ash, I have been waiting for you to make a decision like this on your own for a very long time now. From my perspective, about everything you just told me seems like things that were meant to happen to you. You becoming a Frontier Brain will help you grow up like Professor Oak said. When he says that you have the ability within yourself to accomplish great things, he is absolutely right. Throughout my journeys with you, I have seen you do some incredible things and now I feel that this is the perfect time for you to take the next step in not only your career as a Pokémon Trainer but in your life as well" said Brock wisely as anybody could tell that he has been waiting a long time to say that.

"Thanks a lot Brock! I'm not going to let you or anybody else down! I'm going to go to the Battle Frontier Headquarters in Vermillion City tomorrow and no matter what I have to do, I'm going to overcome it and become a Frontier Brain!" Announced Ash passionately.

"That's good to hear Ash, I am very proud of you" said Brock.

"Thank you Brock. I never could have gotten this far without your help" said Ash with a smile.

"Haha, you know it Ash. Also before I go, I just want to remind you that since you're going to become a Frontier Brain that somebody special might be waiting for you there" said Brock secretively.

"Somebody special? Who exactly are you talking about?" Asked Ash now very confused as he was hit with his innate denseness.

"Sorry Ash. I can't spoil that part for you but remember, once you realize who this person is, you will understand what I'm talking about and realize it is all a part of growing up" said Brock wisely.

"Ugh Brock. You're really confusing me now?" Yelled Ash now holding his head in his hands.

Brock could only laugh and said "Like I said, you will figure out what I am talking about soon. I have to go be a referee for a Gym Battle so I'm sure I'll talk to you soon. Take care Ash!"

"Alright I'll talk to you later Brock" replied Ash. With that the videophone shut down once again.

Ash, now feeling good about everything that was said, headed outside to give his Pokémon the news. Once he was outside, all of Ash's Pokémon skirted up to him and once they were all in front of Ash, he told them all about the good news. In response, all of Ash's Pokémon cheered and seemed ready to take on the unique new challenge.

"Alright everyone now let's train for the rest of the day. Then we will head out tomorrow for Vermillion City!" Yelled Ash as he pumped a fist in the air and all of his Pokémon continued to cheer around him.

* * *

_Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region_

In a small log cabin seemingly in the middle of nowhere sat the sixth member of the Battle Frontier, Salon Maiden Anabel. She was talking to Scott on a videophone.

"Ah Anabel, how have you been doing?" Asked Scott.

"Well, I have been pretty busy lately with all the new challengers that you have recruited, but it's nothing I can't handle" said Anabel with a laugh.

"That's good to hear. Anyway, I have some news that I think you will like very much" said Scott with a smirk.

"Oh? What might that be?" Asked Anabel curiously.

"Well, somebody that passed through the Battle Frontier about a year and a half ago just called me today telling me that he has decided to accept my offer of being a Frontier Brain" said Scott.

After hearing that Anabel now became very attentive as she had been waiting for this news for a very long time hoping that 'he' might accept Scott's offer. Just to be sure though, Anabel asked with a light blush on her face "Scott, you wouldn't happen to be talking about Ash would you?"

"You bet! I figured you would want to be the first to know. I am asking all of the Frontier Brains to cancel any and everything off their schedules and report to the Battle Frontier Headquarters tomorrow at 5:00 PM in order to prepare for Ash's arrival."

Upon hearing that, Anabel froze up for a second before saying with an even brighter blush now on her face "O… ok Scott. I'll be there."

"Very good, I'll be excepting you at 5:00 PM. Also don't say anything to the other Brains, but if I were you I would start thinking of things for him to do now. You know, to save time and all that" said Scott with a smirk.

Anabel, knowing exactly what Scott was referring to, blushed even brighter while thinking of what it would be like if Ash did indeed choose her.

However, she realized what Scott was trying to say and said "You know Scott, that is really mean to pick on me just for my feelings, regardless I'll be there at 5 like you said." said Anabel. Before Scott could respond, Anabel cut the connection between them.

Anabel knew that Scott wouldn't care about what she did as he knew all about her feelings for a certain raven-headed trainer.

Anabel then looked out her window and said to herself _"Ash… if you do indeed choose me, then I'll do everything I can do help you become the best Frontier Brain you can be. I know that this time when you try and read my heart, you will be able too. If you can't, then I'll stay by your side until you are able to. Ash… I'm not going to let you go again like last time without telling you my feelings first."_

With that Anabel got into her pajamas and then into bed all the while thinking about what tomorrow's events may bring.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter! I think that this is a good place to stop as next chapter will mostly involve what is going to happen at the Battle Frontier Headquarters.

If you can leave a review, or favorite/follow the story! That would be awesome as I really want this story to get as big as it can as this story is for you guys so tell me what you think!

That's about it so like I said if you need anything then just PM me or check out my profile for updates as it usually gets updated daily.

As always here is the next chapter title!

**Crossroads Chapter 5: That Special Someone**

That about it everyone so I'll see you later and as always have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	5. Chapter 5 That Special Someone

**Author's Note:**

How is it going everyone?! Time for another chapter of Crossroads!

As always thank you to everyone that reviewed, followed my story, or made it one of your favorites, it really makes me feel good to see all that feedback as last chapter had over 700 views which is awesome! Also once again thanks a lot to Primordial Soul for another great job with the chapter!

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

That should be about it so as always enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 5: That Special Someone**

_Previously on Crossroads, Gary told Ash that he knew Scott from the Battle Frontier and that he should become a Frontier Brain. Ash agreed, called Scott, who accepted him and now he is headed to the Battle Frontier Headquarters in Vermillion City._

* * *

_Professor Oak's Laboratory – Kanto Region_

The next day started out the same as yesterday except this time around, Ash would be leaving early in order to get to Vermillion City on time.

After Ash was all packed up, Delia wished him luck on his new adventure. She knew that this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Ash.

Ash then headed over to Professor Oak's Lab as he needed to pick out which Pokémon he would take with him for the trip.

Ash knocked on the door and was greeted by the Professor.

He said "Hello Ash! I assume you're here to pick up the Pokémon you will be taking with you to Vermillion City?"

"Yup, you got it" said Ash with a smile. The two then proceeded to the backyard to see Gary currently training his Blastoise for his next Battle Frontier challenge.

"Blastoise, use Hydro Pump against that rock!" Called Gary. Blastoise then proceeded to use its powerful hydro cannons to shoot a torrent of water towards the boulder right in front of it. The impact of the attack destroyed the boulder completely.

"Nice work, Blastoise" said Gary. He turned to face Ash and Professor Oak who were walking his way.

Gary then went over to them and asked "You ready to start your new journey, Ashy-boy?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a journey, but regardless you know that I'm going to everything I can to become a Frontier Brain!" Said Ash confidently.

"That's good to hear Ash because you know that once you become a Frontier Brain, that means I'm going to come and challenge your Battle Facility and win your symbol" said Gary with a smirk.

Once Gary finished speaking, it was like a light bulb was turned on in Ash's head. He said excitedly, "So, that's what you meant about us battling again sooner than I thought. Well too bad Gary, there is no way I'm going to let you win my Symbol without a fight!"

"Good. I plan on you being the new toughest Frontier Brain because after I beat the secret leader, I'm coming after you" said Gary while pointing a finger at Ash.

"Alright, alright you two, settle down. Besides, don't you have to select which Pokémon you are taking with you Ash?" Said Professor Oak, trying to get Ash back to the task at hand.

"Wow thanks Professor I almost forgot. Hmm… well obviously, I'm taking Pikachu. That's a no brainer" said Ash with Pikachu saying "Pika!" while punching its small fist in the air.

Ash continued talking with the majority of his Pokémon now circled around the three "I think I'll also take some of my Pokémon that I haven't traveled with in a while. So why don't we go with Quilava, Corphish, Heracross, Kingler, and…"

Ash was about to name his last Pokémon before one walked forward and said "Bulba, Bulbasaur", obviously asking if he could come along as well.

Ash looked down at Bulbasaur and said "Wow, why didn't I think of that?! Of course you can come with us Bulbasaur!"

"Bulba, Bulba!" Bulbasaur said happily.

"Alright, it looks like were all ready to go" said Ash looking at both Professor Oak and Gary, but it looked like they both had something in mind about Ash's choices.

"What's wrong? Am I not choosing the right Pokémon or something?" Asked Ash now worried about what they were thinking.

"Well Ash, it's not about the Pokémon choices because they are all fine, but how do you expect to get to Vermillion City in oh what is it now, 8 hours? You do know that it takes at least a weak by walking to get there right?" Said Gary.

Ash's face was classic as he had wide eyes and a now red face as he knew that there was no way he could get to Vermillion City on time.

"Oh God what am I going to do?! There is no way that I'll make it to Vermillion City on time! Staraptor, Swellow, and Noctowl are all too small to carry me on their backs and I don't have Charizard to take me since he's in Charicific Valley" said Ash who was now panicking at the thought of being late.

"Ash, I want you to think! Is there any other Pokémon that you have in your possession that has the power to get you to Vermillion City?" Asked Gary while trying to get Ash to calm down.

Ash went through every Pokémon he had in his mind and suddenly he had a stroke of brilliance which doesn't happen very often and said "I got it! Technically he isn't in my possession anymore but the only other Pokémon that been able to fly me places was Pidgeot!"

"Ash that's a great idea! Here, I'll go check if I still have Pidgeot's old Pokeball while I get the others for your other Pokémon. However, you have to tell me which Pokémon you aren't taking with you since you can only have six at a time" said Professor Oak.

"Ya, your right" said Ash with a frown. He then knelt down and said "You don't mind staying do you, Corphish? I just really want to take some of the Pokémon that I haven't traveled with in a while. I promise though that the next time I battle with somebody, you will be my first choice!"

Corphish looked sad but understood the situation that Ash was in.

"Ok Professor, I'll be going with these five plus Pidgeot whenever I find him" said Ash.

Professor Oak nodded and went back into the lab to get Ash's Pokeballs. The Professor came back five minutes later and gave Ash all of his Pokeballs. Once he did, he said "Here you are, Ash! I was able to find Pidgeot's old Pokeball in my desk so you should be all set!"

"Thanks a lot Professor! It will be really nice to see Pidgeot again after all this time. I hope he still remembers me." Said Ash.

"I'm sure he will Ash. Now let me and Gary walk you out, you can't be late for your big meeting today" said Professor Oak with a smile. The trio then left the backyard after Ash put all his Pokémon in their respective Pokeball.

Once they were at the front of the lab, Professor Oak and Gary proceeded to say their goodbyes; "Ash, I wish you the best of luck in becoming a Frontier Brain! I know that you will be able to overcome every challenge that they present to you because you are a person that will go that extra distance to accomplish everything!" Ash then shook hands with the man he knew since he was a little boy.

Ash turned to Gary next who said "Ash, you know that I think the same way, but just know that by the time you become a Frontier Brain, I'll already have my seven symbols. I want to make sure that your first official challenger in the Battle Frontier is none other than me!"

"You bet Gary! I'll make sure to do everything I can to become a Frontier Brain, no matter what it takes! I'm going to become stronger and the next time you see me in a competition, I'll be the one lifting that trophy!" Said Ash confidently.

With that, the pair shook hands and Ash began to walk along the road toward Viridian forest to search for his only way to Vermillion City.

* * *

_Viridian Forest – Kanto Region_

It took Ash a little over an hour to reach Viridian Forest as Ash knew that he needed to find Pidgeot in order to make it to Vermillion City on time.

"Man, I don't see anything! Pikachu do you see anything?" Asked Ash.

"Pika Pi…" said Pikachu softly which basically meant that he was as clueless as Ash was.

The pair kept walking for another five minutes before Pikachu spotted a black dot and yelled out "Pika!" While pointing towards the sky.

Ash looked up immediately upon hearing Pikachu and saw the black dot in the sky. Ash then proceeded to yell out "Hey Pidgeot! Is that you?!"

The black dot apparently heard Ash's voice and began to head towards the pair. Although the closer it got, the more clearly Ash could see it and he quickly realized that the black dot wasn't Pidgeot.

Ash began to shake and said shakily "Umm… Pikachu... I think we better start running…"

"Pika…" said Pikachu while putting its arms over its head.

"FEA-ROW!" Roared the wild Fearow. As Fearow got closer, it opened its beak and fired a colorful triangle-like blast from its mouth towards Ash . It clearly was stating that this was its territory.

Ash quickly responded by yelling out "Pikachu use Thunderbolt to block it!"

Pikachu quickly jumped off of Ash's shoulder and shot a bolt of electricity towards the Tri-Attack which caused an explosion upon impact. However, while Pikachu was in their air, Fearow shot through the smoke with its beak spinning like a drill and hit Pikachu in the stomach. The combination of Agility and Drill Peck proved to be very strong as Pikachu was thrown towards the ground.

"Pika…" said Pikachu while slowly getting up with its cheeks crackling with electricity.

"_Darn it! We don't have time right now to fight this Fearow. I have to get back to finding Pidgeot so I can get to Vermillion City" _thought Ash to himself.

Fearow, attempting to seize the opportunity, began to charge once again with another Drill Peck. But, as Fearow was about to hit Pikachu, a flash of light seemed to come out of nowhere at blinding speed which hit Fearow, sending it crashing into a tree.

The Pokémon then flew around in a circle before landing in front of Ash, whose mouth was now open wide at the sight. He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Pidgeot! I can't believe you're here! I have been looking so long for you!" Yelled Ash very excitedly

"Pidgeotooo!" Roared Pidgeot while extending its arms out wide, getting ready to fight the rogue Fearow.

However, the Fearow didn't have the same kind of enthusiasm after being smashed against the tree. Instead of attacking, Fearow seemed to fly away as fast as it could, knowing the task that it would have been up against had it decided to fight the powerful flying type.

Once the rouge Fearow was out of sight, Pidgeot turned to Ash as Ash said "Wow Pidgeot, thanks a lot for the save. That was one tough Fearow; you must be really respected in this forest for other Pokémon not wanting to fight you. Anyway, I was looking for you because I wanted to know if you wanted to join back up with me."

Pidgeot thought for a second before expanding its wings again and yelling out loudly "Pidgeotooo!" Which meant that he would be happy to rejoin Ash once again!

"Really?! Thanks a lot Pidgeot, but what about the rest of the Pidgey and Pidgeotto?" Asked Ash. He wanted to make sure that it was ok for Pidgeot to come with him.

Pidgeot looked up which caused Ash to look up as well. This caused his mouth to drop again as he didn't even notice the enormous flock of Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and even a couple of Pidgeot mixed in as well above them.

"Wow… So that's what you mean. You think that your tribe is strong enough to survive on its own without you" said Ash. Pidgeot then nodded and responded that it knew that it was time to leave his tribe in other hands and rejoin Ash.

Ash then took Pidgeot's Pokeball off his belt and asked "Are you sure about this Pidgeot?"

Pidgeot responded by putting its beak forward and pushed it against Ash's Pokeball. It then opened and engulfed Pidgeot in a white glow before it was sucked into the ball. The Pokeball then dropped out of Ash's hand and wiggled around a couple times while the center of the ball blinked red. The Pokeball then stopped shaking when a dull sound came from it meaning that Pidgeot had once again been caught!

Ash picked up the Pokeball and said "It's good to have you back Pidgeot!"

Ash then threw the Pokeball up into the air which released Pidgeot and it landed it front of Ash. Ash then told Pidgeot about the situation that he was in and Pidgeot responded eagerly by expanding its wings and motioning for Ash to get on its back.

"Wow thanks Pidgeot! You're a lifesaver" said Ash. With that the trio of Ash, Pikachu, and Pidgeot got off the ground and began heading towards Vermillion City.

* * *

_Vermillion City – Kanto Region_

The years that Pidgeot had been away from Ash turned out to be a lot better than expected. Pidgeot flew at the speed of Mach 1, nearly breaking the sound barrier in order to get Ash to Vermillion City in time. Pidgeot was able to do so as Ash made it to the Battle Frontier Headquarters with just enough time to spare, five minutes to be exact.

Pidgeot landed in front of the Battle Frontier Headquarters. Ash leaped off Pidgeot and said "Thanks a lot Pidgeot! You deserve a good long rest for that effort!" Ash then returned Pidgeot to his Pokeball and walked inside of the huge building with the Battle Frontier Logo shown proudly on the front of the building.

Once inside, Ash immediately heard his name called as Salon Maiden Anabel said, "Ash, over here!" who was waiting for him near an elevator.

As Ash made his way over to her, Anabel came over and gave him a hug. Afterwards, she said "Ash, it's so good to see you again. How has everything been?" With a slight blush on her face from the hug.

Ash, who also had a slight blush on his face although he didn't get why, replied "Everything has been going great! It's great to see you again. How has everything been going with the Battle Tower?"

"It's as busy as usual! Ever since you beat the Battle Frontier, the notoriety of the organization has gotten much bigger. It seems like every day now that I'm getting a new challenger which is something you will learn about once you get a Battle Facility of your own" said Anabel.

"Ya your right. I wonder what I'm going to call it… hmm I actually have no idea but hey, I got a lot of time to figure that out. Anyway, is everyone else here yet?" Asked Ash curiously.

A look of shock appeared on Anabel's face as she said quickly "Oh no! I almost forgot! The meeting is about to start! Let's get on the elevator; the meeting is on the top floor" said Anabel quickly as she grabbed Ash's hand and ran into an elevator which just opened as they got there.

Ash and Anabel continued to talk about their lives as the elevator climbed up the large building as Ash slowly began to get comfortable. Although he figured that would quickly change once all of the Frontier Brains plus Scott were gathered in one room.

Once the elevator door opened, Anabel lead Ash down the hall which had large pictures of each Frontier Brain hanging on the wall. The pair soon reached a door with the Battle Frontier Logo on it. Once Anabel knocked twice, the door opened down the middle to reveal a large boardroom with a long table in the middle which could probably fit around twenty people.

Also inside of the room were the other six Frontier Brains; The leader of the Frontier Brains Brandon, Greta, Spenser, Tucker, Lucy and Noland as well as the Head of the Battle Frontier Scott.

Brandon stepped forward and extended his hand while saying "It's good to see you again Ash. I hope you're ready for the challenge of becoming one of us"

Ash accepted the handshake and said "It's good to see you too Brandon and I'm definitely ready to start this challenge!"

"That's very good to hear Ash" said Brandon.

Ash then proceeded to meet and greet the other Frontier Brains which was a different experience each time. Greta punch him in the arm, Tucker was as dazzling as ever in his greetings, Lucy just seemed as quiet as ever as she just gave as a simple hello and a hand shake, Noland gave Ash a pat on the back while telling him that he watched his battle with Paul in the Sinnoh League while recounting how awesome it was, and Spenser also gave Ash a handshake while telling him that somehow nature was a part of telling Ash that now was the time to become to become a Frontier Brain. It only solidified Ash's thought that maybe it was time for Spenser to retire although he would never say that unless he was talking with somebody that thought the same.

After all the greetings were done and over with Scott began to address everyone; "Well, thank you everyone for being here on time as I really do appreciate it. Now, the reason we have all gathered here is that Ash has decided to accept my offer to become a Frontier Brain!"

Everyone in the room clapped at that announcement and Scott continued by saying "Now as we all know except for Ash, there is a certain task that you all preformed in order to become a Frontier Brain."

"What do you mean Scott? What do I have to do?" Asked Ash as he was seemingly ready for anything.

"Well Ash, it's pretty simple really. In order for you to become a full-fledged Frontier Brain, you must spend two months with any Frontier Brain of your choice acting as their 'servant' so to speak. During those two months, you will learn from them how to conduct yourself as well as learn everything there is about being a Frontier Brain. Once the two months are up, your Battle Facility will be ready and you will become a full-fledged member of the Battle Frontier" said Scott with a smirk on his face.

It seemed as if Ash's mouth was dropping a lot today. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have suspected that this would be the task that he would have to perform in order to become a Frontier Brain.

"Now, I understand that you must be pretty shocked about this but if you are truly set on becoming a Frontier Brain, then this is something that you must do" said Scott.

Ash, now recovered from Scott's announcement, said "Alright I'll do it. Do I have to pick now or can I think about it for a little while?"

"Well of course you can think about it for while! We all want to make sure that you make the best decision for yourself" said Scott.

With that said, Scott and the Frontier Brains made their way out of the room, but not before six of the seven Frontier Brains made sure that Ash knew to pick them as it was an honor for a Frontier Brain to train another. Although as they left, Ash looked at Anabel and the pair locked eyes for a second before quickly looking the other way with a blush on their faces as she quickly skirted out the door, leaving Ash and Pikachu to themselves.

Ash moved to sit down in one of the lounge chairs that were in each corner of the room and began to think about each of the Frontier Brains.

Ash's first thought was about Tucker, but the thought of spending two months with him kind of creeped Ash out. Plus Tucker was always doing shows and events so when would he have time to teach him about how to be a Frontier Brain? So Tucker was off the list.

Next up with Spenser. Sure spending time alone on an island would be pretty cool, but when Ash began to think about the kind of lessons that Spenser would teach him, he knew that Spenser wouldn't work as Ash wasn't exactly the naturalistic type to begin with.

Then came Greta. Ash mentally winced in pain thinking of the strenuous torture that Greta would most like put him through. That thought alone crossed Greta off the list.

Lucy might be a good choice, but the more Ash thought about spending two months with Lucy, the more a bad taste came to his mouth as it seemed like Lucy had a serious side that wouldn't make the two months very enjoyable. So Lucy was a no go.

Noland seemed like another logical choice too, but with him being an engineer as well as a battler, it would probably confuse Ash and would teach him more about machines and flying rather than teach him how to be a Frontier Brain.

Ash shook at the thought of being a servant under Brandon. Knowing how difficult it was to defeat Brandon, Ash figured that all Brandon would do is work him to the bone and Ash didn't want to learn under that kind of tough environment.

When Ash thought of Anabel, his thought of being her 'servant' for two months didn't sound half bad. He knew that Anabel was really nice, would make it a nice easy learning environment and Ash knew Anabel also had a lot of experience even though she was the youngest member of the Battle Frontier.

As Ash started to think deeper about Anabel, he began to wonder if she was that "special someone" that Brock was talking about yesterday. Surly Brock didn't know about the two months of servitude although Ash couldn't help but think that Anabel was the person that he was talking about. Anabel was different then Misty, May, and Dawn. Misty was too hot headed and always decided to go with violence to prove a point to somebody. May perhaps could have been the one but she obviously has a thing going on with Drew with all the roses he gives her and besides, he always thought of May more as a student anyway. Dawn was just simply too young for Ash; she was 12! Besides Ash thought that Kenny might have something going on with her so Dawn was out of the question.

Anabel, however, was the same age as him; they shared the same passion for battling as well as the way Pokémon should be treated. When Ash kept thinking about all the similarities between them, he couldn't help but to think that Anabel was the one that Brock was talking about.

Ash, turning his head to look at Pikachu who had been talking a nap in another lounge chair next to him, decided that he had made up his mind about who he should pick to spend the two month with.

After another five minutes of waiting, Scott and the rest of the Frontier Brains re-entered the room to hear who Ash had selected.

Scott went up to Ash and asked with a smirk, "So Ash, who have you decided to spend two months with?" He already knew who he would probably select.

As all of the Frontier Brains waited anxiously for Ash's answer, the raven-haired boy stood up and said "I have thought very hard about this, something I don't normally do, but I think I'm going to go with…"

All the Frontier Brains leaned in a little bit as the suspense was killing them.

Ash finished by saying "Anabel!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright I think that should do it for chapter five and I hope that you all enjoyed it!

As always review, favorite/follow the story as this story is just getting bigger and bigger so keep it up everyone!

That's about it so once again I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and here is the name for the next one!

**Crossroads Chapter 6: Getting Settled In**

That it everyone so I'll see you later and as always have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	6. Chapter 6 Getting Settled In

**Author's Note:**

What's good everyone? After two days of rest it's time for another chapter of Crossroads!

To those that did review, follow my story, or made it one of your favorites, I do appreciate it! Also once again thanks a lot to Primordial Soul for another great job with the chapter!

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

Now this chapter isn't going to be terribly long as you will see but regardless I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 6: Getting Settled In**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash left for Vermillion City and was reunited with his old friend Pidgeot. Once Ash made it to the Battle Frontier Headquarters he was made aware of the 2 month trial he would have to go through to become a Frontier Brain. Ash has now selected Anabel to mentor him throughout the two months._

* * *

_Vermillion City, Battle Frontier Headquarters - Kanto Region_

Scott went up to Ash and asked with a smirk, "So Ash, who have you decided to spend to two months with?" He already knew who the kid would probably select.

As all the Frontier Brains waited anxiously for Ash's answer, the raven-haired boy stood up and said "I have thought hard about this, but I think I'm going to go with…"

All the Frontier Brains leaned in a bit as the suspense was killing them.

Ash finished by saying "Anabel!"

Upon hearing Ash's decision, the room went silent. Scott had a visible smirk on his face as he already knew the decision and was happy for it. Anabel however was a different story. Her face was now beat red as she now knew that she would be the one who would mentor Ash over the next two months.

"Are you sure about your decision Ash?" Asked Scott, just wanting to make sure.

"You bet Scott!" Said Ash enthusiastically.

"Alright then! It looks like we got ourselves a deal! Anabel, do you accept Ash as your student for the next two month and will you teach him everything you know about how to be a Frontier Brain?" Asked Scott in proper conduct.

Anabel, hearing Scott's question, shook her head affirmatively and said "Yes Scott. I do accept Ash and I will teach him everything I know about how to become a Frontier Brain!"

Ash looked at Anabel and smiled at her which caused the Salon Maiden to blush somewhat before Scott announced "Alright everyone, you heard the man! He has chosen Anabel to spend the two months with. So, I thank you all for coming and I will see you all again in two months for Ash's official initiation!"

Most of the Frontier Brains groaned in disappointment, now knowing that they wouldn't be able to train Ash over the two months. Still, that didn't stop them from wishing Ash the best of luck on becoming a Frontier Brain. A few Frontier Brains like Noland even whispered in Ash's ears about wishing him luck on getting close with Anabel.

Upon hearing that, Ash's face turned uncharacteristically bright red while Noland laughed and patted him on the back.

After the rest of the goodbyes were said, the six Frontier Brains left the room to return home. Soon, the only people left in the room were Ash, Anabel and Scott.

Now that the rest of them were gone, Anabel walked up to Ash and engulfed him in her second hug today, trying to show her appreciation. She said "Thank you for picking me Ash! I promise I will do everything I can to make you the best Frontier Brain ever!"

After Anabel pulled away Ash said "you're welcome Anabel. Besides after I really started to think about it you were really the obvious choice to go with compared to everyone else."

Anabel just smiled and nodded her head at Ash before Scott said "Alright, so now that part is over with, it's time to begin your two months of mentorship. Like I said before, you will live with Anabel over the next two months, learning all about what it's like to become a Frontier Brain. Once the two months are completed, your new Battle Facility will be completed."

"How will my Battle Facility be completed if I don't even know what the name of it will be yet?" Asked Ash. He wondered how this is all going to get done in only two months.

"Well, after about a month into your time with Anabel, I'll be making a stop by to ask you again about your Battle Facility. This will involve all the crucial details of how you would like your Battle Facility to look like as well as what the name of it will be. So think about it hard when you aren't learning with Anabel" answered Scott.

"What about my clothes and everything else I need? I didn't pack for anything longer than a few days." Asked Ash.

"Don't you worry about any of that stuff, kid. I will have everything delivered to you by the end of the week. Anymore questions?" Asked Scott.

Ash racked his brain, thinking of anything else that could be of use, but when nothing came to mind, he just said "Nope, I think I should be good. When do we leave? I can't wait to start!"

Scott and Anabel laughed at Ash's question and enthusiasm. Scott looked at his watch and said "Well actually Ash, you can leave now. I'm sure that you are very tired from having to get all the way here today. By the way, that was only the first challenge you had to pass."

"No way! Are you serious?!" Asked Ash now very surprised. That was a test?

"Oh yes, of course I'm serious. All of the Frontier Brains have their own way of travel so you should or rather need to have one as well. Just look at Brandon and Noland. Brandon has his Battle Pyramid and Noland has Articuno" said Scott informatively.

Ash nodded his head, now really thanking Pidgeot for being able to get him here on time.

"Anyway, I have some work to do before I head home for the day. So, why don't you two take off? I will see you both in around a month" said Scott as he motioned toward the door.

Ash and Anabel both nodded at Scott and walked out of the meeting room while Scott walked in the other direction towards his office.

The elevator ride down to the first floor was just the same as when the pair first rode it up. During the ride down, Ash was already beginning to ask Anabel questions about what they would be doing over the next two months. Anabel, however, wasn't giving an inch. She told Ash "Sorry, Ash. I'll let you in on everything that we will be doing tomorrow when I take you on a tour through the Battle Tower."

"Aww… why can't you tell me now though?" complained Ash like a little child. This made Anabel laugh, but she still held firm in her decision which Ash eventually came to terms to once the pair headed out of the Battle Frontier Headquarters.

Once they were outside, Ash asked "So, how are we getting back to your house Anabel?"

Anabel laughed and instead of answering him, pulled a Pokeball off her belt and called out "Come out my friend! Alakazam!"

When Alakazam was released from his Pokeball, he called out "Al-la!" while turning toward Anabel. Alakazam then noticed Ash and gave a slight bow towards the raven-headed trainer.

"Hey there Alakazam. You're looking great since last I saw you!" Said Ash clearly impressed by the Pokémon's condition.

"Al-la Alakazam" said Alakazam while scratching the back of its head.

"Alakazam said thank you very much Ash" said Anabel.

"Wow! I almost forgot you can communicate with Pokémon Anabel! That's so awesome!" Said Ash, excited by the Salon Maiden's special ability. He wished he had something like that.

Anabel blushed at Ash's complement and said in response "Thank you Ash. Now, why don't we head to my house?"

"Sounds good to me. I haven't been to Tohjo Falls since I was there to challenge you for your symbol" replied Ash.

Anabel nodded and called out "Alright Alakazam. Use Teleport to bring us home."

Alakazam responded by putting its two spoons together which began emitting psychic energy. He then created an orb around himself, Ash, Anabel, and Pikachu which glowed brightly for a second before completely disappearing and sending the group through what seemed like space towards Anabel's house in Tohjo Falls.

* * *

_Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region_

Not too far from Anabel's house, the white orb which enveloped the four earlier appeared and then dissipated around them.

The four looked around to see that they were on a path headed towards the Battle Tower with trees surrounding them. It was now 7:30 PM so the sun was setting as well.

"Wow! I don't think I have ever been teleported across a whole region before" said Ash in astonishment over Alakazam's abilities.

"Ya well, Alakazam and I tend to have to do it quite often. Although teleporting this far causes Alakazam to run out of power quickly so he can only do it twice in one day" said Anabel.

"Still to be able to travel this far really is something. Thanks a lot Alakazam!" Said Ash enthusiastically.

"Al-la Alakazam" said Alakazam with a smile. However, Ash could see at a glance that Alakazam definitely looked more tired than before.

Anabel, noticing the same thing, pulled out Alakazam's Pokeball and said "Here my friend. Return for now and take a nice long rest. You deserve it."

Once Alakazam returned to his Pokeball, Anabel said "Come on Ash, let's go to my house. I'm sure that you already had a pretty long day as it is."

Ash nodded and began walking side by side with the Salon Maiden.

After about five minutes of walking in silence since Alakazam teleported them a good 15 minute walking distance away from Anabel's house, Anabel turned to Ash and asked "Hey Ash... do you remember when last time you were here I asked you to try to read my heart?"

"Ya I remember that. Why do you ask?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Well… I know that it's been awhile, but what would you say about giving it another try?" Asked Anabel now stopping to turn fully towards the raven-headed trainer.

Ash, seeing that Anabel stopped, stopped himself and said "Sure Anabel! I would like to try again. Who knows, maybe this time I will be able to read it since it's been almost a year and a half since we have been together.

"Go ahead then. Just look into my eyes and use your senses to see if can read my heart" said Anabel. Ash then looked into Anabel's eyes and began to clear his thoughts as he tried to feel what kind of emotion was running through Anabel's heart.

Last time when he tried to read Anabel's heart, Ash had felt absolutely nothing. However, this time, even if it was for just a second, Ash felt something warm emit from Anabel's heart. Ash tried to dig further into this feeling. However, he found that he got nowhere with that attempt.

Anabel looked into Ash's eyes and asked "So, were you able to read my heart this time?"

Ash looked at her with a confused face and said "You know, I'm really not sure. For a second, I felt something… something warm, but before I could dive deeper, the feeling just faded away and it went back to the way it was last time."

Anabel looked slightly disappointed that Ash couldn't read her heart once again but at the same time she thought, at least he felt something this time which was better than nothing.

"It's ok Ash. I'm sure that as we spend more time together, probably by the end of the two months, you will be able to read it. Just give it some time." Said Anabel encouragingly.

"Ya I'm sure of it to. I just have to think about it as another challenge that I am going to overcome while I'm here. That warm feeling is something that I want to know more about" said Ash. He was determined to conquer this challenge and find out what that feeling was.

Anabel blushed a bit. She knew exactly what he was talking about and said "Like I said Ash, you will figure it out eventually. Now, let's head to my house since it's starting to get dark."

"Ok let's go" said Ash with a smile and with that the pair continued along the path.

After another ten minutes of walking, Ash, Anabel, and Pikachu finally reached Anabel's house. The trio walked in to see that nothing had changed over the past year and a half. Anabel said "Alright boys. This is your home for the next 2 months. Now if I were you, I would get ready for bed because we will be getting up bright and early tomorrow so we can start your training!"

With that said, Anabel showed Ash and Pikachu to the guest room where they would be staying throughout the two months. It was just like any other guest room as it had a full-size bed with a dresser where Ash would keep all his clothes, a mirror on the wall and an average size TV.

"What do you think Ash?" Asked Anabel.

"It's perfect Anabel; this is everything I'll need for the two months. Thanks a lot!" Said Ash with a smile.

Anabel blushed again at Ash's smile and said "You're welcome Ash. Now if you need anything, my room is right down the hall so don't hesitate to ask" Anabel was about to close the door when she said quickly "It's good to see you again Ash. I missed you over the past year…"

Ash looked at her as he now had a slight blush on his face as well. He said "Thanks Anabel and… I missed you too."

Anabel gave him a smile before saying goodnight once more and closing the door.

Ash then collapsed on the bed and asked his starter "This is going to be a crazy two months isn't it Pikachu?"

"Pika... Pikachu" said Pikachu, which basically meant something like "you know it Ash", while curling itself on the end of the bed.

Ash looked at his now asleep best friend before changing into his pajamas and getting under the sheets. As he fell asleep he was thinking about what the next two months might bring as well as the lavender-haired Frontier Brain.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I think that should do it for this chapter! So Ash is now set to start his two months of learning under Anabel but trust me when I say that it is going to be a very exciting and interesting two months!

If you can leave a review, favorite, or follow the story that would be great as there is A LOT more still coming as this in only chapter 6 of hopefully many, many more chapters!

That's about it so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and here is the name for the next one.

**Crossroads Chapter 7: Salon Maiden Anabel**

That it everyone so I'll see you later and as always have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	7. Chapter 7 Salon Maiden Anabel

**Author's Note:**

What's good everyone? I'm sorry that it's been basically a week since I last updated but I was honestly tired from writing as much as I was plus I had a lot of other stuff going but regardless I'm back now with another chapter so I hope you all enjoy!

Anyway to those that did review, follow my story, or made it one of your favorites, I do appreciate it!

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

That's about it so enjoy the chapter everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon. However I do own Mike Schultz as he is an OC that I created for this chapter.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 7: Salon Maiden Anabel**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash and Anabel left the Battle Frontier Headquarters and headed to Anabel's home in Tohjo Falls. Ash then attempted to read Anabel's heart which he was currently unable to do. They then got settled in at Anabel's house and began to prepare themselves for the months ahead._

* * *

_Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region_

It was 7:30 in the morning. Usually at this time, Ash and Pikachu would be sleeping peacefully undisturbed by anything. Today, however, didn't turn out to be one of those days.

Anabel, who had already been up for about half an hour, was already in her daily clothes and had something special planned for Ash. It was his first morning of the two months after all.

"_Espeon, use Psychic to lift them up" _said Anabel telepathically to the Psychic type eeveelution who was standing close to Anabel's feet.

Espeon nodded her head and then proceeded use her Psychic powers to lift Ash and Pikachu into the air while they were sleeping. Once the two were about 3-4 feet into the air, Anabel pulled an air horn out from her pocket and said_" ready to give them rude awakening Espeon?"_

Espeon nodded her head and Anabel then pushed down on the air horn. The loud sound immediately woke the pair up.

"Ahhhhh!" "Pikachu!" Yelled the pair as they began to flail the arms and legs around in the air while trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

Anabel and Espeon laughed loudly at the reaction that they got from the pair as Espeon released them from her Psychic grip.

Ash and Pikachu landed back on the bed with a 'thump'. Ash then looked up at Anabel with a dazed look and said "ugh… what is going on?"

"Well Ash, I figured today would be a great day to give you your first official wakeup call" said Anabel with a smirk on her face.

"Wait! You're going to do this again?!" Asked the still dazed Ash.

"You never know Ash. For all you know, you might be in the same spot tomorrow" said Anabel while giving Ash a wink.

Anabel continued by saying "Well now since that's done with, it's time to get up. We have a long day ahead us and I have breakfast waiting for you in the kitchen."

Upon hearing that, Ash shook off this dazed look and said "Sounds great Anabel! I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Anabel nodded her head and left the room to give Ash his privacy.

Once Ash finished getting changed, he went into the kitchen where Anabel already had breakfast waiting for him. Ash immediately began to dig in.

"Wow Anabel, this is great!" Said Ash enthusiastically as he continued to pile the food into his mouth.

Anabel blushed and said "Thank you Ash. I usually make breakfast for myself every day since I live by myself so I tend to get a lot of practice. I'm glad you like it."

Ash nodded while eating and asked "Speaking of which, where does your family live?"

"Well actually, my family lives in Snowpoint City in the Sinnoh Region. In fact, I asked my older brother who lives there to come and visit to help out with your training" said Anabel.

"Really? I didn't know that you had a brother? I might know him since I was just in Sinnoh" said Ash curiously.

"Well I doubt you would know him as he usually travels all-around the different regions. Still, I would have to say that he is even stronger than myself" said Anabel.

"Wow! Now I really want to know who he is if he's as strong as you say!" Said Ash as he finished up with his breakfast.

"Well don't you worry Ash. He will be here by next week. Until them it's just you and me. Since you're finished, let's head over to the Battle Tower to start your training."

Ash nodded and with that, the pair headed out of the house and towards the infamous Battle Tower.

* * *

_Battle Tower, Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region_

It took around ten minutes for the pair to walk to the Battle Tower from Anabel's house. When they got there, Ash looked up in astonishment as it looked even taller than when he was previously here.

"I can guess what you might be thinking by the look on your face and the answer to that would be yes. We have added another ten floors to the Battle Tower since you were last here" said Anabel.

"Wow that's incredible; I can't wait to see the place!" Said Ash excitedly.

"Well you don't have to wait very long Ash. Here let's head inside" said Anabel while motioning towards the door.

"Yeah, you bet" said Ash and with that the pair headed inside.

The base floor of the Battle Tower was very basic with a reception desk right in the middle of the room with of elevators on each side of the room. There was also an informational board telling anybody that came in what floor each of the specific stations were on.

Anabel lead Ash over to the board. Anabel then told Ash about all the different floors that they had from battlefields to workout room, contest training areas, and swimming pools, the list just went on and on.

"Wow Anabel. I didn't realize there were all these different floors the last time I was here" said Ash as he continued to read the informational board.

"Don't you worry about it Ash. I know that the last time you were here you were very focused on your Frontier Battle challenge. However, this time around, I really want you to take everything in so when you start thinking about what you want to go into your own Battle Facility, you have certain ideas to start with" said Anabel.

Ash nodded his head while somebody called out "Hey Anabel!" The man was Anabel's green haired assistant Maron.

"Oh hey Maron. How are you today?" Asked the Salon Maiden.

"I'm doing well myself. I see you on the other hand have a visitor. It's good to see you again Ash! Anabel was really sad when you had to leave last time so I'm sure she couldn't be happier that you're back and for two months no less!" Said Maron cheerfully.

Anabel's face turned beat red upon hearing Maron's comment and thought about how she would get him back while Ash exchanged his own greetings with her assistant.

Anabel pinched the bridge of her nose and said "Anyway Maron… what's on my schedule for today?"

"Well… in about an hour, you're scheduled to have a Frontier Battle with Mike Schultz from last week, but other than that... you are pretty much free for the rest of the day" said Maron while looking through the notepad he usually kept with him.

"Thank you Maron, I'll be giving Ash a tour around the Battle Tower. When Mike shows up, please show him to the battlefield and I will be right there" said Anabel.

"You got it Anabel. In the meantime, I will be checking the field to make sure that everything is ready for your battle. Other than that, enjoy your little tour with Ash" said Maron with a smirk and ran off before Anabel could respond.

As Anabel was thinking of ways she would get back at him for his now two remarks about Ash, the raven-haired trainer grabbed Anabel's hand and said "Come on Anabel! I really want to see the tower!"

Anabel, who was now blushing slightly at the contact with Ash's hand, shook off what Maron said and said herself "Yeah Ash, let's go!" The two then proceeded to get onto the elevator which would begin its climb up the tower.

The pair's first stop was floor two as Anabel explained to Ash about the Battle Tower's structure. The Battle Tower had ten battle floors with each floor containing an official full size battlefield for trainers that come here to practice their skills against each other. The same complied for Contest Battles as well. There were another ten floors of battlefields with computerized system's set up to record, add, and subtract points from co-ordinators just like any other Contest Battle.

The next ten floors were a combination of workout/swimming pools to allow all types of Pokémon to be able to train and workout to the fullest of their abilities. The five floors after that were designed for Pokémon stage performances that were first developed in Sinnoh and now also used in Unova. Those floors held stages where almost any Pokémon would be able to test their specific performances in front of a small section of seats.

Floors 36-38 were all the business offices as well as the security station where every floor in the Battle Tower was monitored in order to keep everything safe for all the people who came to use the facilities.

Floor 39 was Anabel's private battlefield where the Salon Maiden would challenge any and all Battle Frontier challengers for the Ability Symbol. The top floor of the Battle Tower was Anabel's office where she did all of her personal work. This is where Ash and Anabel reached once Anabel showed Ash all the different floors that the Battle Tower possessed.

The elevator door opened to Anabel's office which revealed that lavender really was her signature color. The room had a circular shape with large glass window panels behind her desk, allowing her to see the beautiful scenery that Tohjo Falls has to offer. There were also pictures of the Salon Maiden hanging around the walls of her doing various thing which included battling or just hanging out in the woods surrounded by her Pokémon as well as others.

"Wow Anabel, you sure do have a nice office" said Ash as he walked around the office while examining all the pictures of her.

"Thank you Ash. When your Battle Facility eventually gets built, you will have an office just like this one. Although being a Frontier Brain doesn't mean that you simply battle and that's it" said Anabel.

"What do you mean?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Well… it also involves doing quite a bit of paperwork at times too" said Anabel as she dug out a small stack of papers from the inside of her desk.

Ash shuddered at the thought of doing paperwork but then asked "What kind of paperwork do you usually do?"

"It's really nothing too bad. Basically the main thing I have to do is after I battle a trainer, I have to make a small report on how the battle went and obviously if he or she was able to win my symbol" answered the Salon Maiden.

"Oh that's it? That doesn't seem so bad" said Ash.

"Well, it really depends on how many challengers you get. The more challengers that show up then the more paperwork you have to do and vice-versa. Here is an example" said Anabel as she handed Ash a copy of a report that she had in her desk.

Ash scanned the paper and quickly realized that this report was about him and said "Wait a second… this is the report of when you battled against me when I challenged you for the Ability Symbol!"

Anabel laughed and said "That's right Ash. The report that you are holding is the one I wrote after you beat me so essentially I had to do two reports on you since I beat you the first time."

"Wow that's right. I totally forgot about that" said Ash while handing Anabel back the report.

Anabel was about to respond but was cut short when the intercom went off "Anabel, Mike Schultz has arrived for his Frontier Battle with you and we are awaiting your arrival on floor 39" called what sounded like Maron's voice.

"Well that's my cue. Come on Ash, I want you to watch this battle and remember to watch what I do because I will be testing you on how I performed in this battle once we get back to my house.

"You got it Anabel, I can't wait to see you battle again after all this time. I'm sure you will be great!" Said Ash enthusiastically.

Anabel blushed at Ash's comment and said "Thank you for the compliment Ash. Now let's go, we don't want to keep Mike waiting, you will see why."

Ash nodded his head and the pair headed on the elevator down to the 39th floor.

Once they reached their destination, the door opened to reveal Anabel's personal battlefield with two people standing at the center.

The first was naturally Maron while the other had short blonde hair with light blue eyes. Although his looks didn't exactly match his eyes as he wore a leather jacket with a red shirt under it along with dark jeans. Mike also wore a silver cross around his neck and black fingerless gloves on his hands.

"Finally, if it isn't Salon Maiden Anabel. Can we get this battle started so I can win your symbol already?" Sneered Mike while pointing a finger at Anabel.

Ash was about to retaliate at Mike for the way he talked to Anabel when Anabel responded "Are you sure you want to battle with me again so soon? I believe it was only last week that you lost 0-3 against me."

Mike face became visibly angry as he responded by saying "Just you wait Anabel! I have trained my Pokémon all week in preparation for this battle so trust me when I say that this time is going to be very different!"

"Very well then. If you are so eager, then let's begin" said Anabel.

The two trainers settled themselves in their respective trainer's boxes while Maron stood atop the small podium in the center outside part of the field. Ash took the stands on Anabel's side and began to watch intently as he didn't want to screw up on the quiz she would be giving him later.

Maron raised his hands and called out "The Frontier battle between the challenger Mike Schultz from Vermillion City and Anabel the Frontier Brain and Salon Maiden is about to begin! This will be a three on three battle with no time limit and only the challenger will be able to substitute Pokémon!"

"Go, my friend!" Called Anabel as she released her first Pokémon onto the field.

"Al-LA Alakazam!" Called the Psi Pokémon calmly as it prepared itself for battle.

"Electabuzz lets rock!" Yelled Mike as he released the electric Pokémon onto the field.

"Electa-Buzz!" Roared Mike's powerful electric type.

Maron looked both ways and announced "Alakazam VS Electabuzz, let the battle begin!"

"As the challenger, you have the first move!" Called Anabel from across the field. She hoped that Ash was listening to her.

"You're going to regret that! Now Electabuzz toast that Alakazam with Thunderbolt!" Yelled Mike.

Electabuzz immediately reacted by shooting a powerful beam of electricity straight towards Alakazam. However, Anabel was ready as she called out in retaliation "use Psychic to deflect it!"

Alakazam lifted its hands and its eyes shined a light blue aura as the same color surrounded the incoming thunderbolt. The attack then turned in the opposite direction and headed towards Electabuzz.

"Electabuzz dodge that and go in with a Thunder Punch!" Called Mike as Electabuzz easily dodged the redirected Thunderbolt and headed towards Alakazam with its fist crackling with electricity.

"Alakazam intercept with Focus Punch!" Called Anabel in response.

Alakazam's fist shined pure white as it headed towards Electabuzz. The two attacks collided at the center of the field with neither side giving an inch. Although as time wore on, Alakazam was able to push through Electabuzz's attack and send it hurtling back towards its trainer.

"No Electabuzz get up!" Roared Mike as Electabuzz struggled to regain its footing from the powerful fighting type attack.

"Now my friend, finish with Psybeam!" Called Anabel as Alakazam put its twin spoons together and fired a colorful beam towards Electabuzz.

"No Electabuzz, push it back with Thunderbolt! Yelled Mike as Electabuzz, while still getting up from that Focus Punch, pushed its hand forward and fired the electrical attack to try to intercept the Psybeam.

However, the Thunderbolt proved to be fruitless as the Psybeam cut straight through the electrical attack and struck Electabuzz right on, engulfing it in the colorful glow. Once the attack ceased, Electabuzz fell backwards onto the ground in a crumpled heap with swirls in its eyes.

Maron looked over and immediately called out "Electabuzz is unable to battle! Mike please select you next Pokémon!"

"Darn it! Electabuzz return!" Called a now frustrated Mike as he clipped Electabuzz's Pokeball back on his belt.

"This isn't over yet Anabel! Now Magmar lets rock! Yelled Mike as he released the Spitfire Pokémon from his Pokeball.

"Mag-mar" called Magmar coolly as the fire type got ready to battle.

Maron looked both ways and announced "Alakazam VS Magmar, begin the battle!"

Mike not even waiting this time for Anabel to say that he had the first move immediately called out "Magmar use Flamethrower!"

Magmar quickly shot a torrent of flames towards Alakazam while he waited for the Salon Maidens response.

"Same as the last time, Alakazam use Psychic on the Flamethrower and send it right back!" Called Anabel.

"Magmar cease the attack and run through the flames while using Fire Punch!" Yelled Mike.

Anabel's eyes widened knowing that this tactic may also cause a lot of damage on Magmar but it seemed that Mike held little concern about that.

Alakazam proceeded to use Psychic just as before but instead of dodging like Electabuzz had, Magmar ran through the incoming flames while engulfing its own fist in flames. Magmar emerged from the other side of the flames and struck Alakazam in the stomach with its powerful fire type attack which sent the Psychic type Pokémon skidding across the field towards Anabel.

"No Alakazam, are you alright?" Asked Anabel urgently.

"Al-la… Alakazam!" Called Alakazam while standing back up on its feet showing that it wasn't done quite yet.

"Alright! Way to go my friend, now use Psybeam!" Yelled Anabel while pointing her finger towards Magmar.

Alakazam complied by shooting the same colored beam as before towards the Spitfire Pokémon but Mike was ready as he quickly responded by yelling "Magmar, use Smog to hide yourself. Then go in with another Fire Punch."

As the Psybeam approached its target Magmar shot out a cloud of poisonous smoke from its mouth which effectively concealed it from view. Once the Psybeam made contact with the poisonous smoke, it created an explosion which canceled out the two attacks.

Magmar then used this opportunity to leap through the smoke with its fist engulfed in fire as before. As it came through the other side of the smoke and came down on Alakazam, Magmar made a punching motion but Alakazam managed to evade the attack and then threw its surprisingly glowing fist into the jaw of Magmar.

The force of the attack sent Magmar crashing into the ceiling before gravity took over and caused Magmar to fall towards the ground. When Magmar hit the ground with a 'thud', it was plainly obvious that it was out cold as the Spitfire Pokémon was unmoving with swirls in its eyes.

Maron looked over and announced "Magmar is unable to battle! Mike, please select your last Pokémon!"

"NO WAY! How did Alakazam use Focus Punch when you never called it!" Roared Mike in disgust as he recalled Magmar back to his Pokeball.

"Well it's quite simple really. I didn't show it in our last match, but I have the ability to communicate telepathically with any and all Pokémon. The reason nobody heard me tell Alakazam to use Focus Punch was because I told Alakazam telepathically to use it" said Anabel informatively.

"WHAT! Come on ref that has to be against the rules! Besides I have never heard of a person in my life being able to do something like that before!" Yelled Mike towards Maron.

"Sorry Mike, but what Anabel is able to do is completely legal. Besides, each Frontier Brain presents a certain type of challenge to their challenger and Salon Maiden Anabel is no different. Now please select your last Pokémon" answered Maron.

"Fine, have it your way! Scyther lets rock!" Roared Mike as he released his last Pokémon onto the field.

"Scyther, Scy! Called the Mantis Pokémon in its high-pitched voice as it got itself into battle position.

Maron looked both ways before announcing "Alakazam VS Scyther, let the battle begin!"

"Scyther, start it up with Swords Dance!" Yelled Mike. Scyther quickly crossed its blade-like arms and a dim white aura engulfed Scyther meaning that its attack power just got a major power boost.

"I see you are using a bug type to try to defeat my Psychic types. It's a good strategy but it isn't going to work. Alakazam use Psybeam!" Called the Salon Maiden.

"Scyther use agility to dodge then go in with X-Scissor!" Yelled Mike in retaliation.

Alakazam quickly fired the colorful beam towards Scyther but Scyther proved to be extremely quick as it easily avoided the beam and appeared in front of Alakazam in almost an instant.

"No way!" Yelled Anabel in shock at its speed, but before the Salon Maiden was able to call out an attack, Scyther crossed its blade-like arms like an X while they a glowed bright white. Scyther then quickly moved forward at high-speed and shot through Alakazam with its X-Scissor, leaving the Psi Pokémon left only to crumble to the ground with swirls in its eyes.

Maron looked over at Alakazam before calling out "Alakazam is unable to battle, Anabel please select you next Pokémon."

Anabel nodded and returned Alakazam back to his Pokeball while saying "That was an amazing battle my friend, now get a good rest" before pocketing the Pokeball.

"Ha! What were you saying about my strategy not working?!" Laughed Mike while pointing his finger towards the Salon Maiden.

Anabel then pulled out her next Pokeball and called out "When I said that, I wasn't talking about Alakazam but the Pokémon I am about to show you now! Go, my friend!" The Pokémon that released from the Pokeball was probably the last Pokémon that Mike would have ever wanted to see.

"Meta, Metagross!" Called out Anabel's powerful pseudo legendary Pokémon as it got ready to battle.

Mike mentally cursed himself as he knew that taking this thing down would be a task in and of itself. He knew that he didn't have Magmar anymore which would be super-effective against Metagross.

Maron looked at both of the trainers for what seemed like to him to be the final time as he announced "Metagross VS Scyther, begin the battle!"

"Scyther quick, use Air Slash!" Yelled Mike. Upon command, Scyther flew up into the air and created a swirling ball of air and energy in its blade-like arms before launching it towards Metagross.

"Now Metagross, use Meteor Mash to dissolve the attack. Then follow it up with Hyper Beam!" Called Anabel.

Metagross pulled one of its iron legs back and a colorful spiky aura surrounded the leg. Metagross then launched it forward into the incoming Air Slash and upon contact broke through the attack with ease. Metagross then turned its attention towards Scyther as it created a powerful orange ball in its mouth and fired it as a beam towards the Mantis Pokémon.

"Scyther! Use your speed to evade it! Then go in with an X-Scissor!" Roared Mike knowing that if Scyther got hit with the full brunt of that attack then I could be game over for him.

However, before Scyther could fully avoid the Hyper Beam, the attack came in faster than Scyther anticipated and as it attempted to evade the attack, Scyther was slightly caught by the beam which left a visible mark on Scyther's body.

Scyther attempted to shrug the attack off as it charged towards Metagross with its blade-like arms crossed as before. When Scyther came in contact with Metagross, Scyther almost bounced off from Metagross's sheer defense power as Scyther ceased the attack and headed back towards Mike, now breathing heavily while Metagross finally recovered from using Hyper Beam.

Mike was about to call out another attack when Anabel cut in and yelled out "Enough Mike! This match is over!"

Mike then had a confused look on his face and retaliated by saying "What do you mean this match is over?! My Pokémon is still standing so that means I'm still in this!"

"Look Mike; when I can, I would prefer not to harm another Pokémon if I don't have to and this is one of those time so I ask for you to forfeit the match. Look at your Scyther it looks exhausted" said Anabel.

Mike couldn't ignore the fact that his Scyther was probably a little tired but that wouldn't stop his ego from getting in the way as he yelled out "NO! My Scyther is perfectly fine, you will see! Now Scyther use Night Slash!"

Upon hearing his trainer's call, Scyther charged towards Metagross once more, this time with its blade-like arm engulfed in a dark aura.

"I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice! Now Metagross finish this with Meteor Mash!" Called Anabel as Metagross pulled its iron leg back just as before and prepared its attack.

As soon as Scyther came into range, Metagross swung its arm forward at a very high-speed which hit Scyther right in the face and sent the Mantis Pokémon hurtling towards the outer wall. Once Scyther hit the wall, it was clear that the battle was over as Scyther slid down the wall and into a slumped state as it was clearly unconscious with swirls in its eyes.

Maron looked over at the scene and announced "Scyther is unable to battle. With that said, Mike has now lost all three of his Pokémon and the winner of this Frontier Battle is Anabel the Frontier Brain and Salon Maiden!"

"Yeah! Way to go Anabel!" Yelled Ash from the stands. He was quiet throughout the match as he observed what was possibly his first lesson.

Anabel blushed upon hearing Ash cheer for her while recalling Metagross and telling the Iron Leg Pokémon that it did an amazing job and deserved a nice long rest.

Mike recalled Scyther to his Pokeball and without even a goodbye stomped towards the elevator while yelling something about how he would be back or something like that.

Maron came up to Anabel and said "Stubborn as always isn't he…"

"Well I guess that's Mike for you. I'll never understand what Scott saw in him to let him challenge the Battle Frontier in the first place" said Anabel while shrugging.

"Yeah me neither" agreed Maron.

Ash then came down from the stands and said enthusiastically "Wow Anabel that was fantastic! You really showed that kid the power of a Frontier Brain in action!"

Anabel blushed again at Ash's compliment and said "Thank you Ash, I hope that was a good first hand example of what a Frontier Brain does during a battle."

"Oh yeah for sure Anabel! I can't wait to see more of your battles as I'm positive that you have even more tricks you have yet to show!" said Ash still as excited as ever to have Anabel as a mentor.

Anabel nodded and said with a wink "Don't you worry Ash! You haven't seen everything quite yet. Anyway after that battle, I'm tired so let's head back to my house. I'll fix us up something to have for lunch!"

Ash, knowing that he can't resist a good meal, whole heartily agreed with the Salon Maiden. After saying goodbye to Maron, the pair headed back to Anabel's house for a well-deserved break.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I think that this should be enough for now and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and seeing Anabel battle!

I would like to say that I created Mike Schultz myself so I just wanted to throw that out there if anybody is confused about where I got him from but yeah that is all me hahaha.

Once again thank you to everyone that Reviewed, Favorited/Followed my story as I think this is just getting bigger and bigger as when I posted the last chapter this story had almost 1000 views in one day so keep it going everybody!

That's about it so here is the title for the next chapter!

**Crossroads Chapter 8: Getting To Know Each Other**

That it everyone so I'll see you later and as always people, have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	8. Chapter 8 Getting To Know Each Other

**Author's Note:**

Hey everyone, hope you had a good weekend of Football as this weekend was pretty epic for sure. Although I'm really sad that my Texans lost to the Patriots its ok because lets face they are just the better team so what are you going to do right?

Anyway I would like to say thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter as I really appreciate it.

Also just want to say thanks to my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe! He has elected to become my beta for the story but he hasn't gotten to this chapter yet as he is currently working on chapter 10 and then will start working on chapters 1-8!

That's about it so enjoy the chapter everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 8: Getting To Know Each Other**

_Previously on Crossroads, Anabel got Ash started on his road to becoming a Frontier Brain as she showed him around the Battle Tower while explaining other crucial things to him about his own Battle Facility. Anabel then had a Frontier Battle of her own where she defeated Mike 3-1 while showing Ash how a Frontier Brain should conduct her/himself. The pair then left the Battle Tower to head back to Anabel's house for the rest of the day._

* * *

_Tohjo Falls – Kanto Region_

After Anabel's trouncing of Mike Schultz, Anabel and Ash left the Battle Tower to go back to the Salon Maiden's cabin for the rest of the day as it was now 3:00 PM in the afternoon.

"So Ash, do you know what you would like to do for the rest of the day?" Asked Anabel as the pair began walking along the path towards Anabel's cabin.

"Umm… I don't know actually. Why don't we go over to the lake and hang out for a while?" Suggested Ash.

"Yeah, that's a great idea Ash! While we're there, I'll show you some of the new Pokémon that I got since you were last here" said Anabel with a smile.

"That sounds great Anabel! I can't wait to see your new Pokémon!" Said Ash enthusiastically.

"Same here Ash; you must have collected a lot more Pokémon since the last time you were here" said Anabel.

"Yeah you're right. However, since I just traveled with them in Sinnoh, I decided to take some of the Pokémon that I haven't traveled with in a long time" said Ash.

"Wow Ash. I fully agree with that. It's so nice to know that after all this time, you still think about each and every Pokémon that you have ever caught. You also make it a point to have each one travel with you so they don't feel forgotten about" said Anabel.

"Yeah, but in order to get to Vermillion City, I had to leave behind my Corphish to have enough room for Pidgeot. Otherwise, I would have taken him with me" said Ash.

"Oh I understand. You could only take six Pokémon with you at a time and I know that you take Pikachu with you wherever you go so that's a no brainer" said Anabel.

"True, but regardless I always try to include all of my Pokémon in my travels when I can, especially during the leagues that I take part in. For example, I used a lot of my old Pokémon in the Sinnoh league. Well, except for my battle against Paul, I just used my Sinnoh team for that battle" said Ash recalling the battle against his most feared rival.

"I also came to the conclusion about how I am going to run my Battle Facility" continued Ash.

"Oh and how might I ask are you going to do that?" Asked the Salon Maiden.

"Well… I think that before every match, I'll give my opponent the choice of which Pokémon they want to battle against. Now I know that sounds similar to the way Nolan runs his Battle Facility, but since I have such a wide range of different Pokémon types, the challenger would choose six different types to battle against so I would use different Pokémon each time somebody new challenged me" explained Ash.

Anabel took a second to think about this idea before saying "Ash I think that's a marvelous idea because it's not like a new trainer would know what the previous trainers choose. Therefore, almost every time, the challenger would select new Pokémon giving you a chance to battle with all of yours along with almost every type."

"That's the idea. It's just that since I'll most likely be staying in one place for a while, I needed to figure out a way to incorporate all of my Pokémon into my Battle Facility. I don't want to have them be sad when I leave them to go on a journey with them knowing that I won't need them for a couple of months. With this plan, all of my Pokémon will always be ready to battle at a moment's notice" said Ash.

"Like I said Ash, I think it's a very good idea. Still when did you come up with the though?"

"Well, when I was riding here on Pidgeot, it took about five hours so I had some time to think about things. I was thinking about all of my Pokémon and how I wanted to figure out a way to use them all. I then remembered that each Frontier Brains can make their own set of rules so I continued to think about it and I figured that this was the best way to challenge my opponents, as well as, being able to use all of my Pokémon" explained Ash.

"I see… well I must say that I'm very impressed Ash. Obviously you have put a lot of thought into this which is great! I know that when I was training to become a Frontier Brain, I didn't know what I was going to do with my Battle Facility until about a month in" said Anabel.

"Speaking of which, who did you do your two months with Anabel?" Asked Ash curiously.

"You probably won't believe me, but I decided to do my two months with Greta…" said Anabel somewhat embarrassed.

"No way! You're right, I can't believe that! That must have been brutal which is exactly why I decided not to go with her" said a shocked Ash.

"Let's just say that it was hell, Ash. Every day it was work, work, and more work. I honestly have no idea how in the world I managed to get through it all. I just thought that since Greta was a girl and we were only a couple of years apart, then it would be fun and we would have gotten along well but was I ever wrong" explained Anabel.

Ash laughed at that and said "Yeah I could see that for sure! Good thing I went through the Battle Frontier first or I might have made a decision like that myself. Thankfully I did so I got to choose you!"

Anabel blushed and smiled while saying "Speaking of which Ash, why did you decide to choose me anyway? I know that you said a bit about it yesterday but I am very curious?"

Ash blushed himself and said "Well… first off when I thought about all the other Frontier Brains, none of them really appealed to me and to be honest... some of them creeped me out too."

Anabel laughed at that and allowed Ash to continue as he said "Well, the reason I choose you is because I knew that you would make learning fun for me. I mean we're the same age and we both love Pokémon. I remember that when I came here to battle you; we hung out before our battle like old friends. I didn't do that with any of the other Frontier Brains because to be honest... I didn't really feel a connection with them other than just needing to battle them and win their Symbol. Plus, I think you're just an awesome person to be around and even though this is just the first day, I can already see this being a great two months."

Throughout Ash's speech the blush on Anabel's face just continued to grow, especially when he talked about him not having a connection with the other Frontier Brains which basically meant that he thought that he had a connection with her.

"So… you think that you have a connection with me Ash?" Asked Anabel.

Upon hearing this question caused Ash to freeze a bit before he shook it off and said "Well… I don't see why not. I mean, when I came here to battle for your Symbol, I just felt that this was easily the best stop on my way through the Battle Frontier and when I left, I just felt like I was leaving something behind. I wasn't sure what it was then though. Now though, ever since the end of the Sinnoh League, I have thought a lot more about the things I need to do to become better. Therefore, I talked with somebody close to me and decided that this was something that I needed to do" answered Ash.

"Who was this person that you talked with Ash?" Asked Anabel, who had now with much effort gotten the blush off of her face, although one could still see a slight tint of red there.

"I'm sure that you remember Brock right? Well the day before I came here, I called Brock to tell him about the choice I made to come here and he just solidified my decision to do it" said Ash. He specifically left out what Brock said about meeting that special someone.

"Yeah of course I remember him! I'm sure I'll see him again when we all go to Pallet Town for the opening of your Battle Facility" said Anabel with a smile.

"Yeah for sure, I'm hoping that almost everyone will be there for that. I'm sure it will be a great day!"

"I'm sure it will be Ash! Hey look there's my house! Let's change into our bathing suits and head over to the lake! I'm sure that our Pokémon want to have some exercise as well" said the Salon Maiden.

The pair then went into Anabel's house where they quickly changed into their bathing suits and left to head towards the lake with Pikachu and Espeon who Anabel had released her from her Pokémon in tow.

Once the pair got to the lake Anabel said "Come on Ash! Let's let out our Pokémon to have some fun!"

Ash nodded towards the Salon Maiden and took the five Pokeballs off his belt before throwing them into the air while calling out "Come on out everyone!"

The five Pokeballs opened in mid-air releasing Bulbasaur, Kingler, Quilava, Pidgeot, and Heracross with each Pokémon releasing their own specific cry upon being released.

"Wow Ash! These Pokémon are all from Kanto and Johto and they all look so happy and well-trained!" Said Anabel very impressed with Ash's Pokémon.

"Thank you Anabel and you're right. I caught these Pokémon in Kanto and Johto which is exactly why I wanted to bring them with my this time since it was so long ago. Let's see your Pokémon Anabel. You said you had some new ones right?" Asked Ash.

"That I did Ash. Now come out my friends!" Called the Salon Maiden as she released all of her Pokémon onto the grass in front of the lake.

With Espeon already out, the first two were obvious as they were Alakazam and Metagross. The next three however, were new to Ash as they were a Gardevoir, Starmie, and a Kirlia.

All of Anabel's Pokémon gave out their respective cries as well before going over to Ash's Pokémon to introduce themselves.

"Wow Anabel! I didn't know that you had this many Psychic type Pokémon! They all look so strong too; it makes me wonder why you only use Metagross, Alakazam, and Espeon against Frontier challengers."

"Well actually Ash, I have used Gardevoir and Starmie as of late. I just wanted to surprise you with them now which is why I didn't use them before" answered Anabel.

"Oh ok I understand" said Ash while laughing and then asked "Why do you have a Kirlia though Anabel? Doesn't Kirlia evolve into Gardevoir?"

"Yes your right Ash, but in this case the Kirlia you see is a male which means if you have something like this… then you can evolve it into a Gallade" answered Anabel while pulling a Dawn Stone from her pant pocket.

"Wow I never would have guessed to be honest" said Ash while laughing.

"Why don't you use it then?" Asked Ash curiously.

"Well because I think that Kirlia isn't ready to evolve yet. I feel that forcing a Pokémon to evolve will only set it back in becoming stronger so until Kirlia is ready I'm not using it" said Anabel while putting the stone back in her pocket.

"Yeah, I agree with you for sure. I remember when my Grovyle evolved into Sceptile because Grovyle wanted to help a Meganium and Tropius from Team Rocket and after Grovyle evolved, Sceptile couldn't use any attack moves for almost two weeks" said Ash.

"Exactly, so I think it's best to just leave things be for now" said Anabel while removing her top and bottom to reveal her bathing suit.

Ash couldn't help but blush as Anabel's bathing suit definitely helped emphasize her curves as she wore a lavender one piece bathing suit.

Upon Anabel seeing Ash's face, she decided to take a chance and said "Well come on Ash… wouldn't you like to join me…" said the Salon Maiden in a low tone as she walked towards the water and hopped in while awaiting Ash to join her.

Ash's face grew redder as he said "Yeah… I'll be right… there" and continued to take off his top as he was already wearing his swim trunks and walked towards the water.

Anabel couldn't help but to blush heavily herself upon seeing Ash's bare, toned chest. Traveling around the world all this time had certainly helped the raven-haired trainer grow quite the body despite not actually working out.

Ash then jumped in which sprayed the Salon Maiden with water. She apparently wasn't too happy with that as when Ash came back up, Anabel had one of those glares on her face.

Ash's looked at her and frowned as he said "What? What did I do?"

Anabel then turned her glare into a smile and began to splash Ash constantly which basically turned into splash war between the two trainers while their Pokémon played happily around them.

After about a good hour and a half of having fun, Ash and Anabel got pretty tired from all the swimming they did so they decided to exit the lake.

Once they were changed back into their normal clothes, the pair then settled themselves down next to a tree so they could rest and talk for a little while before heading back to Anabel's house.

The pair talked about... well... everything; what their favorite food was, places they have traveled to, battle they have fought, basically just getting to know each other more as they both knew that they would need to over the next two months.

However Anabel asked a question that really ignited something between the pair as she asked "So why did you decide to become a Frontier Brain now? Why is it that now is the right time in order for you to become a Frontier Brain?"

"Well… I having been thinking about how to become stronger for a while now. Ever since my loss to Tobias in the Sinnoh League. I have just felt that if I went to a new region, namely Unova, that the same thing would just happen all over again and I wouldn't get anywhere as a trainer. I mean sure, it would be great to go out and meet new people and catch some new Pokémon. When it comes down to it though, I just felt that if I went to Unova, I would just end up letting down my Pokémon all over again and I wouldn't get anywhere as I trainer" said Ash.

Anabel on impulse grabbed Ash's hand and said "Ash, that's not true! Even if you did go to Unova, you would have done great just like you always do. I mean even though you lost in the Semi-finals, isn't getting top four a great thing?"

"That's the thing Anabel. I mean sure, I could say getting top four in a league is great. But I just feel that I am at the point in my career where if I don't start winning the matches that really matter, then I am just going to keep failing my Pokémon over and over again. It's just not something that I want to put them through anymore" said Ash while looking down towards the ground.

"Ash, you're not failing your Pokémon though. If anything, your Pokémon look as healthy and happy as ever" said Anabel who kept her gaze straight on Ash's face.

"Yeah, you might be right about that. But I just feel like I am failing them and so in order for me to win in the future and not fail my Pokémon, I needed to make the choice to stop now and train so when I enter another tournament, it will be me coming out on top this time" said Ash determinedly.

"How do you plan to do that Ash? How do you plan to become stronger for your Pokémon?" Asked Anabel. Ash had a sense of déjà vu of when Gary asked him the same question.

"You know Anabel, a really good friend of mine asked me that same question a couple of days ago. I didn't have an answer for him then, but now I do. My answer is that I need help. I feel that over the past couple of years, I have tried to do everything myself. Even though my friends were giving me advice, I felt like it just wasn't enough for me. Plus, over the past couple of years, I have mentored May and Dawn, but during that time I don't feel as if I have improved much myself" said Ash who was now looking at the Salon Maiden eyes, causing her to slightly blush at the eye contact while she held his hand in hers.

Ash continued by saying "When Gary told me about possibly joining the Battle Frontier, I was slightly skeptical at first, but he, Brock and Professor Oak convinced me that this was the right choice. Despite not knowing then what I was going to be going through, I made the choice to join the Frontier which I'm now glad for. Being able to learn from you instead of teaching myself is exactly what I need if I'm going to become a better trainer" continued Ash.

"Anabel… I need your help. I know that the mindset that I have now about failing my Pokémon isn't good but I need your help if I'm going to become stronger" said Ash.

"Oh Ash... of course I will help you! I will make sure that every day for the next two months, you are learning and you are becoming stronger for the future. I know that someday, you will become a Pokémon Master and when it happens, I'll be right beside you cheering you on!" Said Anabel enthusiastically.

"Thank you Anabel, it really means a lot to me… more than you know" said the raven-haired trainer. Anabel then moved to lay her head on Ash's shoulder as the two sat there in silence. They both quickly drifted off to sleep while saying in their minds_" I can get used to this."_

However, a dark figure, who was easily concealed behind the trees, watched the pair closely knowing that his time for revenge would come soon enough. Although for now, he would let the pair sleep as he knew that his time to strike would come soon enough.

The figure then leaped down from the tree and headed deep into the woods where he was camped out with a large yellow Pokémon with two tails followed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright everyone so I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter as it was meant for Anabel and Ash to become closer and to get some fluff in there for all of you! Also I hoped you liked the little ending I threw in there as I'm sure you all know who it is but if you don't he will be revealed in a couple of chapters!

Also once again please review if you already haven't as I appreciate every and all reviews as all I want to do is make this story better for all as this story is for you the fans/community so enjoy it and tell me what you think!

That should be about it so here's the chapter title for the next chapter!

**Crossroads Chapter 9: The Heart of a Turtle**

That's all people! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	9. Chapter 9 The Heart of a Turtle!

**Author's Note:**

What's going on everyone?

First off I would like to thank my new beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe who has beta read this chapter and will be my new beta reader for the remainder of the story! Eventually he will be working on the first 8 chapters but for now we decided to focus on the chapters that haven't been edited yet so here you guys go!

Thanks a lot to all of you though since every day I kept getting story alerts, favorites, reviews, and PM's telling me to continue the story so I mean your support with this story has been awesome and I really appreciate it!

That should really be about it so as usual, enjoy the chapter and its great to be back!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 9: The Heart of a Turtle**

_Previously on Crossroads, Ash and Anabel got to spend some quality time together as well as getting to know each other better. Anabel made sure that Ash knew that she would help him as much as possible to become the best Frontier Brain he could be. As they fell asleep next to the tree, they were unaware of somebody watching them who would reveal himself in time._

* * *

_Tohjo Falls, Battle Tower – Kanto Region_

The days that followed the first one seemed like a blur to Ash; it was almost the same routine every day.

Anabel would wake Ash up at around 7:30 AM every morning, they would eat breakfast, and then they would head over to the Battle Tower for the day, where Ash continued his training under Anabel.

Most of the time the two worked together, Anabel usually teaching Ash what went on daily at her facility. For instance; on weekends Anabel normally hosted a Pokémon tournament on the battling floors. This usually took up much of her weekend, but it was worth it - she enjoyed watching both the competition and the improvement it fostered in many of the participating trainers.

On other days, events were much more mundane - sometimes, she simply walked around the different floors watching all the people and Pokémon that came to use the different facilities. Of course, such inspection had a less superficial reason than one might think - she had to be on the lookout for potential mishaps, accidents, and other problems so that if anything went wrong, she could get it fixed.

All in all, it was a very time-consuming job, and yet the battle tower seemed to run almost flawlessly. Ash, obviously, was very impressed with Anabel's ability to hold it all together.

He learned all this during the first week of his "indentured servitude" under Anabel. She never treated him like a slave, though - ever since the first day, their relationship had been much less formal the "Master-Apprentice" dynamic that would normally be present. Even in small events, like their hands brushing against each other or Ash complementing Anabel on how intelligent she was, they were both starting to realize that maybe their connection was deeper than it had first seemed. However, neither of them wanted to rush into anything, so they were content with letting things play out and seeing what developed.

Today, since Anabel was battling the dreaded enemy of all Frontier Brains - paperwork - in her office, she told Ash to perform the customary circuit around the battle floors and see if anybody needed some help or some advice for improvement.

As the raven-haired trainer walked around on the fifth floor, he noticed a small blonde-haired boy who appeared to be a relatively new trainer - around the age that Ash himself had been during his Kanto journeys. The boy (unlike Ash) had obviously prepared well for his travels - his hair was cut short to prevent it from obscuring his vision, he wore a loosely-fitting blue t-shirt, matching dark blue cargo shorts, white sneakers, and a despondent look on his face.

Ash did a double take when he spotted the last of these items, and decided to see what was going on. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the kid was trying to train his Pidgeotto to use Aerial Ace, but he was having quite a bit of trouble - either the bird failed to gather enough speed, or it almost collided with the ground. Reminiscing slightly about when his Swellow learned the move, Ash decided to help.

He walked over and tapped the boy on the shoulder. "Hey there! My name's Ash. I was walking by, and I saw you looking sort of down. Is there something I can help you with?"

The boy looked up at him, blue eyes full of barely suppressed tears. "Thanks, that'd be great, Mr. Ash." His eyes then widened as he realized exactly _which_ Ash he was talking to. "Wait a minute, you're _the_Ash Ketchum?! The one who beat that guy's Darkrai in the Sinnoh league?"

Ash grinned proudly. "Yup, that's me! What's your name?"

"My name is Dave, and my dream is to become a Pokémon Master - just like you!" the boy exclaimed.

Before his loss against Tobias, Ash would have just taken that comment as fuel for his ego, but, well, he was older now. "I'm actually not really a Pokémon Master or anything yet - I did get defeated, remember? - but that's still my dream, and I'm going to do everything I can to make that a reality! For instance, a true Pokémon Master always helps the needy and those who are having trouble. Speaking of having trouble, I saw that you were trying to teach your Pidgeotto Aerial Ace. Do you need any help with that?"

"Oh yes, please! I would love your help, Mr. Ketchum!" Dave answered excitedly.

"Alright, you got it Dave! Oh, by the way, you don't need to call me Mr. Ketchum. Ash is perfectly fine."

Dave nodded in agreement as Ash detached a Pokeball from his belt, calling, "Alright, Pidgeot, we need your help!"

Ash threw the ball into the air, and Pidgeot emerged in a flash of white light.

"_Pidgeot-ooooo_" exclaimed Pidgeot, executing a quick barrel roll as he flew down next to Ash.

"WOW! You have a Pidgeot! That's so cool!" Yelled Dave with stars in his eyes.

Ash laughed. "Yup, he sure is. I first caught him as a Pidgeotto back when I started my journey, and after several years of guarding Viridian Forest from a flock of Spearow and Fearow, he's the strongest Flying-type I have with me. But he only got that strong through hard work, so if you keep at it, I'm sure that one day your Pidgeotto will grow up to be big and strong like Pidgeot is!"

"Really? Thanks Ash!" Said Dave happily.

Ash smiled again. Turning back to the battlefield, he gained a determined look, and said, "Let's do this! Pidgeot, show them an Aerial Ace so Pidgeotto can see how to do it right."

Pidgeot nodded his head and took flight. When he was high enough, Ash called out, "Now, Pidgeot, use Aerial Ace!"

Looping in mid-air to gain speed, Pidgeot shot towards the ground, white streaks blazing all around him. Before he actually _hit_ the ground, though, he quickly leveled his flight and sped past the group just above the floor, striking the practice target before pulling back up and landing beside Ash again.

"Way to go Pidgeot, that was great!" Ash exclaimed, patting him on the head.

"Ash, that was incredible! How did Pidgeot do that?" an eager Dave questioned.

"Um, lemme see if I can explain it properly... Well, before Pidgeot went into his dive he did a quick loop to pick up some speed. Then, he used the dive to pick up even _more_speed, but before hitting the ground he leveled himself out so he could aim at the target better. It's sort of tricky, but the secret is keeping a good balance of speed and maneuverability. It's not enough to just dive at the target - the ability for the user to change its aim and follow the target is what makes Aerial Ace so hard to avoid." Anabel's protégé elaborated.

"So, you're saying that I need to not just try and increase Pidgeotto's speed, but also its level of control as well?" Asked Dave.

"Yup, that's right; as long as Pidgeotto keeps its flight under control, then the speed at which it moves can reach extremely high levels."

"Alright, I think I get what you're saying. Can I try it out now?" Dave looked questioningly at Ash, determination evident on his face.

"Of course you can try! Let's see if you can pull it off now." Ash recalled Pidgeot, walking over to a nearby chair and sitting down to watch.

"Great!" Dave turned back to the field, gesturing Pidgeotto forwards. "Alright, Pidgeotto, let's do it! Use Aerial Ace just like Pidgeot did!"

Pidgeotto flew out onto the field, gathering momentum. It then looped just like Pidgeot and headed towards the ground, the attack's trademark white streaks appearing around it.

"There you go, Pidgeotto, keep it up!" Dave encouraged. "Then level out on my command!" When Pidgeotto was about five feet above the ground, Dave commanded, "Pidgeotto, now!"

Responding to its trainer's instruction, Pidgeotto quickly leveled itself out, shooting across the ground towards Ash and Dave. As Pidgeotto got closer, however, his trajectory became slightly wobbly as his focus dissipated.

"Hang in there, Pidgeotto! You can do it!" Dave called out. When Pidgeotto heard its trainer's encouragement, it managed to refocus and stabilize itself before pulling out of the streak like Pidgeot had. It shouted its name ecstatically as it landed back next to the celebrating Dave.

"Alright Pidgeotto! I knew you could do it!" yelled Dave, hugging the Flying-type.

Ash walked back up to the pair, a wide smile on his face. "Wow, Dave, I'm really impressed! You and your Pidgeotto really improved in the usage of Aerial Ace - with just a little more practice, I'm sure that Pidgeotto will be able to use the move perfectly."

"Really? Thanks a lot, Ash! I really appreciate your help!" said Dave.

"Anytime Dave. I'm glad I could help." Ash responded, still smiling.

The pair then shook hands, and Dave recalled Pidgeotto, while heading towards the elevator to proceed to his next destination. As he entered the elevator, happy about his progress, he passed by a figure leaning up against the wall, hidden by the shadows of the equipment.

"Well, I see that you're well on your way to becoming our number one trainer here, aren't you?" the mysterious figure commented. As the raven-haired trainer turned around, the unidentified person emerged from the shadows, revealing the face not of a stranger, but the Salon Maiden herself.

Now that she was no longer swamped by paperwork, Anabel seemed much more lighthearted, disturbing the Butterfree in Ash's stomach. He was able to subdue them somewhat, though, and he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Oh, you saw that? It looked like he needed help, so I thought I could…"

Anabel put her finger up, shushing her apprentice. "No need to explain, Ash. I don't think I could have done it any better myself - great job!"

Blushing profusely, the raven-haired trainer stuttered, "Uh, th…thanks, Anabel."

He still couldn't figure out why he was acting like this, but it didn't really bother him that much - a hidden part of his brain told him not to worry. He still would have liked to have full control of his own mouth, though.

Anabel was about to reply, but was interrupted by Maron on the intercom system. "Salon Maiden Anabel, please report to the first floor; you have a challenger waiting for you. Ash Ketchum, you were requested also, so please accompany her to the arena." With a click, the intercom turned off.

"Well… Ash I guess we have to go - but before that…" Anabel walked forward and kissed Ash on the cheek. At Ash's surprised look, she blushed, trying to come up with a reason for her action. "That was... uh... for doing such a good job with that kid. Now let's go, we don't want to keep the challenger waiting." With that, she turned around and headed quickly for the elevator.

"Right…" said Ash, touching his cheek in shock. Hearing the elevator ding, he ran to catch up with the Salon Maiden. "Hey, wait for me!"

Once the pair made it down to the first level, they exited the elevator and began to look for the person they were supposed to meet. That question was answered when a voice yelled out, "Hey, over here Ashy-boy!"

"Oh no… of course it's him of all people…" Ash groaned, looking over to where the voice originated and seeing none other than Gary Oak.

Anabel, who now had an amused smirk on her face, asked, "Ashy-boy?"

"Ugh… you don't want to know." responded Ash as the pair made their way towards Gary.

Once they made it over, Gary looked Anabel up and down appraisingly. "So, this is the Frontier Brain that you chose. She's a nice one, Ash. I wouldn't let this one slip away if I were you."

Anabel's cheeks flushed madly as Ash's natural denseness kicked in. "What do you mean, 'let this one slip away'? It's not like she's a mischievous Arbok, a clueless Togepi, or anything like that." Gary chuckled at Ash's statement, infuriating him. "Do you _have_ to do that, Gary? Just get on with it and tell us why you're here."

Gary, still laughing at the duo's reaction, said, "Whoa, alright, relax a bit Ashy-boy. I was just complementing you on your choice of girls..." - here he winked at the two, intensifying their respective reactions - "...But anyway, I really came here to win my 6th Frontier Symbol. I made an appointment for about... five minutes ago."

Anabel, once again the businesslike Salon Maiden, answered, "Well, thank you for the compliment, Gary. If you follow me, we'll head up to the battle floor, and we can get our battle underway."

"Sounds good to me. Now remember, Ashy-boy: always watch what I'm doing - you're watching a professional in action here," said Gary with a smirk.

"Professional, eh?" Ash retorted. "I think you forgot - I already defeated the Battle Frontier, so I think it's you that's going to need a bit of luck to pull this one off. Anabel isn't a push over - in fact, if it wasn't for the secret Frontier Brain I bet she'd be the strongest of them all."

Anabel blushed again at Ash's compliment, while Gary simply continued smirking maddeningly. "Whatever you say, Ashy-boy, now let's go."

Ash, Gary, Anabel, and Maron (who had arrived just as their conversation finished) headed up to floor 39 to begin the battle. Once they reached the appropriate level, Anabel and Gary went to their respective sides of the field while Ash headed up into the stands to watch. Once they reached their positions, the machinery hidden under the floor whirred to life, projecting barriers to shield the stands and walls from stray attacks.

Maron went to the referee's box and announced, "The Frontier battle between the challenger, Gary Oak from Pallet Town, and Anabel, the Frontier Brain and Salon Maiden, is about to begin! This will be a three on three battle with no time limit, and only the challenger will be able to substitute Pokémon!"

"Come on out, my friend!" Anabel announced, releasing her first Pokémon.

"_Meta, Metagross_!" Called the pseudo-legendary Pokémon as it got ready for the first battle of the day.

"Nice, a Metagross. What a way to start a Frontier Battle. Good thing I know just how to beat it - Arcanine, let's go!" Gary released the Pokédex-deemed "Legendary Pokémon" onto the field.

"_Rooof_!" Arcanine howled as it took its battle stance, attempting to intimidate its opponent.

Maron looked at both teams and called out, "This matchup will be Metagross versus Arcanine, let the Frontier Battle begin!"

"You have the first move, Gary," called Anabel from across the field.

"Alright then, Arcanine start it off with Flamethrower!" Gary yelled, and the canine Pokémon unleashed a torrent of flames from its mouth towards Metagross.

"Metagross, use Psychic to redirect Arcanine's Flamethrower right back at him!" Anabel countered, pointing her finger at the Fire-type. Metagross grunted in agreement and surrounded the Flamethrower with the blue aura of Psychic, redirecting it back towards Arcanine.

"Arcanine take it!" Gary ordered. The Fire-type stayed stalwart as the Flamethrower attack engulfed it. Instead of doing damage like expected, though, Arcanine was shrouded by a reddish-white glow, which it dispelled with a roar, revealing itself to be unharmed.

"What! I know that Arcanine is a Fire-type, but why didn't that do _any_ damage?" asked Anabel, slightly shocked at the situation.

Gary looked back at her sporting his classic smirk as he answered, "You see, Anabel, Arcanine's ability isn't Intimidate like you thought - it's Flash Fire. I like fooling the opponent into trying to use Fire-type attacks on Arcanine, thinking that they can damage it that way. Instead, we get a power boost! Thanks, by the way."

"Nice play, Gary! You're going to need that boost if you want to compete with my Metagross." Anabel responded. "But enough talking, why don't we continue? Metagross, Meteor Mash!" In response, Metagross dashed forward, one of its steel claws lighting up white as stars circled it.

"Dodge with Extremespeed, then follow it up with Flame Wheel!" the researcher countered. As Metagross was about to make contact, Arcanine vanished into thin air and reappeared behind Metagross, engulfed in a circling sphere of fire.

"Metagross, turn around, but keep up the Meteor Mash!" Anabel ordered.

"Arcanine, charge in!" Gary punched the air, anticipating his victory as Arcanine sped towards Metagross. However, thanks to Anabel, Metagross had enough time to turn around and meet Arcanine straight on with its Meteor Mash as Arcanine reached the center of the field.

After a short power struggle between the pair, Arcanine broke off from the contact and dashed back to Gary's side of the field, temporarily out of range. Gary then called out, "Now use Wild Charge!"

The Fire type began to crackle with electricity, speeding forward once again to try and make contact with the pseudo-legendary Pokémon. Anabel would have none of that, however, calling out, "Metagross, block it with Protect!"

As Arcanine approached Metagross, the Steel/Psychic type created a light green spherical shield around itself, which Arcanine bashed its head into in an attempt to break through. The effort was ultimately in vain, and Arcanine was then knocked back when Metagross flung its dissipating shield outward.

"_Metagross, Hyper Beam while it's stunned,"_Anabel messaged mentally as Arcanine flew backwards, and Metagross quickly powered up an orange ball of energy in its 'mouth.' It then fired it as a beam towards Arcanine, who had just gotten over the impact from the previous attack.

"Wait, WHAT? You didn't say anything, and it's attacking?" yelled Gary in disbelief. "Arcanine, push it back with your Flamethrower!" Arcanine fired the Flamethrower right into the Hyper Beam, but even the extra power granted by Flash Fire wasn't enough to overcome the more powerful attack. The Orange Beam engulfed the canine Pokémon's Flamethrower and then Arcanine itself.

"Arcanine, NO!" Gary called worriedly, as the Hyper Beam dissipated. Arcanine's defenses had not been strong enough to survive the beam of destruction, and the Pokémon slowly keeled over, swirly-eyed.

"Arcanine is unable to battle, which means that Metagross wins!" Maron called, raising Anabel's flag to signify her victory. "Gary, please select your second Pokémon."

Gary returned Arcanine, praising its efforts before stowing away the Pokeball and pulling out another one, which he looked at for a moment. "Well, I had intended on saving this guy for later, but after seeing how you handled Arcanine even after our trick, it looks like I don't have much of a choice. Blastoise, let's go!"

The Pokémon, arguably Gary's strongest (due to being his starter), roared out "Blast-OISE!" as it formed, nearly shaking the building as it landed.

"Wow Gary, your Blastoise sure looks like it's gotten a lot stronger since the Silver Conference," called Ash from the stands.

His signature smirk adorning his face, Gary replied, "Well of course it is, Ashy-boy, and you're about to see it in battle first-hand. If you're polite, I may even let you watch me beat the 'mystery Frontier Brain'."

Ash laughed, saying, "Yeah right, Gary. I think you should get through this battle before you start thinking about defeating Br- I mean, the secret Brain."

"Umm, hello?" Anabel interrupted. "Ash, we're kind of in the middle of a battle here, so if you wouldn't mind being a little quieter…"

"Oh, sorry Anabel," Ash chuckled mareepishly. "Don't mind me, please continue. Eh-heh-heh-heh."

Gary, of course, could not turn down an opportunity to tease Ash. "Well, it's good to know that we have finally found a girl who can control Ashy-boy over here. You know, Anabel, when that happens, it usually means he likes her." Both blushed in embarrassment, before Ash started yelling at Gary from the stands again, forgetting about the request that had sparked the teasing.

Gary just tuned him out (as he had learned to do during the years of their childhood) and turned his focus back to the battlefield, where the Pokémon were waiting for their instructions. Seeing them reminded him of something he was curious about. "Hey, Anabel," he called.

"Hmm?" she responded, still trying to tame her flaming cheeks.

"I was just thinking, earlier in the battle it seemed like you were communicating with your Pokémon without using words, and my researcher side wants to know how you did that. Care to explain?"

Anabel managed to shake off the remainder of her blush and answered Gary's question, telling him about her empathetic Pokémon communication abilities. Once Gary had heard, he nodded in understanding. "Well, that makes sense. But now that my curiosity has been sated, let's continue."

Anabel nodded and looked towards Maron, who was waiting patiently for them to finish - Anabel explaining her mental abilities was pretty much an everyday occurrence. Once notified that they were ready to continue, Maron raised his arms and announced, "Match two: Metagross versus Blastoise. Begin!"

"Let's go, Blastoise; use Hydro Pump!" yelled Gary. Blastoise aimed its trademark cannons and fired a powerful torrent of water towards Metagross, who, although it had had plenty of time during the conversation to recharge from its usage Hyper Beam, decided to honorably take the hit as if it _did_ still have to recharge. The strong water attack hit it straight on, sending it skidding backwards a couple of feet towards Anabel.

Now that Gary knew about Anabel's telepathic ability and would be prepared for it, she decided that she would continue using it for the rest for the match so as to enhance the challenge. She then mentally directed Metagross to _"Charge in with Zen Headbutt,"_ causing it to tuck in its 'arms' and charge towards Blastoise, main body glowing light blue.

"Blastoise, counter it with Skull Bash!" Gary responded, and Blastoise tucked in its head as it charged towards Metagross, white streaks surrounding its body.

The pair collided at the center of the field, causing yet another struggle for dominance. Unlike the last battle, though, Metagross was much more evenly matched; Blastoise seemed to have the strength of a pseudo-legendary (albeit a somewhat exhausted one), pushing Metagross back. The steel behemoth was unable to maintain its attack, and as one final push came from Blastoise, the dissipation of its attack's energy sent Metagross flying backwards past Anabel and into the outer wall.

"Meta…" groaned the pseudo legendary as it lay against the wall, swirls in its eyes.

Maron raised his left arm towards Gary and Blastoise and declared, "Metagross is unable to battle, so Blastoise is the winner! Salon Maiden Anabel, please select your next Pokémon."

Anabel reached out towards the field and returned Metagross to its Pokéball, complimenting it much like Gary did with Arcanine. She then took out her next Pokeball and threw it into the air, calling, "It's your turn, my friend!"

In burst of light, the Gardevoir that Anabel had selected floated elegantly down onto the field, emitting a peaceful aura.

Maron, as dutiful as ever, announced the next match. "Match three: Gardevoir versus Blastoise. Begin!"

"Alright, Blastoise, let's start it off with Hydro Pump again!" Gary instructed, causing Blastoise to shoot out another torrent of water, only this time towards Gardevoir.

"_Gardevoir, dodge with Teleport, and then follow it up with Energy Ball_!" called Anabel telepathically. Gardevoir successfully vanished from the torrent's destination, appearing to the right of Blastoise with a ball of green energy forming in its hands. It floated slightly backwards in order to aim better and fired the sphere towards the hulking turtle.

Because he couldn't tell beforehand what was coming, Gary knew that he needed to be extra observant in order to counter his opponent's strategy. His mind raced as he noticed the Grass-type attack, and he yelled, "Use Rapid Spin to block that Energy Ball!"

Luckily for him, Blastoise was able to hide in its now rapidly rotating shell before the Energy Ball connected, negating the majority of its effectiveness.

Anabel wasn't done yet, though, continuing to press the attack. "_Now use Shock Wave!_" Gardevoir, who still wasn't far from Blastoise, performed a few arm waves, shooting out a streak of lighting. The electric attack flew through the air, managing to hit Blastoise through the holes in its shell while it was still spinning.

Due to where it landed, the Shock Wave, instead of exploding on contact like the Energy Ball had, engulfed the final form of Kanto's water starter in electricity - both inside and outside the shell. This caused Blastoise to reflexively stop spinning and emerge from inside its shell.

The giant turtle winced in pain from the attack, and as it locked eyes with Gary, the researcher knew that he had to start putting pressure on Gardevoir rather than just staying on the defense, or it would be a short battle. His eyes then lit up as he figured out how to do both at once. Better yet, even the usage of Teleport wouldn't be able to overcome that strategy. But in order to implement it, Gardevoir needed to be far enough away to give him time to set it up.

"Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!" he called, eyes flicking to the other end of the field. Blastoise understood, firing another torrent of water in a calculatedly more scattered fashion.

As the attack approached, Anabel mentally instructed, "_Gardevoir, Teleport again._" Gardevoir easily avoided the attack, reappearing in a safe zone further away.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Gary wanted. "Now, Blastoise! Rapid Spin while using Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise's face grew a smirk that matched Gary's as it quickly receded into its shell. Once it was ready, the Water-type began to spin rapidly, firing out a seemingly endless stream of water in all different directions, eliminating all safe zones. The attack was almost a carbon copy of the Counter Shield that Ash developed in Sinnoh - just a variant that Ash had never used.

"_No! Gardevoir, keep using Teleport to avoid the water!_" Anabel ordered frantically. Sadly, it did no good - trying to avoid the streams of water was almost as hard as touching a Tentacruel's underbelly without hitting any tentacles. No matter where Gardevoir teleported, it kept getting grazed by the powerful water type attack, and the damage was slowly building up.

Thankfully, Anabel was soon able to figure out a way to counter Gary's strategy - one she thought Ash would be proud of. "_Gardevoir, use Light Screen! But use it on Blastoise, not yourself!_"

Gardevoir nodded in acknowledgement and teleported to the safest area it could see - right above Blastoise. The attacks still hit, but with a low enough frequency to allow it to concentrate on forming the barriers. Its eyes flashed a bright yellow as it pushed its arms forward, creating a yellow box around Blastoise that trapped all the water streams inside. That result had two effects: First, it stopped all the water streams from hitting Gardevoir, and secondly, it caused Blastoise's attacks to hinder itself.

"What the Mew? Since when does Light Screen work like _that?_" Gary yelled, both annoyed and impressed with Anabel's defusing of his combination attack. "Blastoise, switch to Aqua Tail and get yourself out of there!"

Blastoise quickly stopped spinning and emerged from its shell, panicking slightly as it cloaked its tail in Water-type energy and began hammering away at the Light Screen.

"_Great job, Gardevoir, now release Blastoise and use Shock Wave!_" Gardevoir released the Light Screen, dropping Blastoise to the ground, and quickly fired out another wave of lightning. Once again, the Electric-type energy engulfed Blastoise - only this time amplified by the water the turtle was swamped in. Nerve endings firing wildly, Blastoise fell backward onto the back of its shell.

Gary could only grit his teeth at the scene before him, his Blastoise struggling back to its feet in evident pain. Being a naturally defensive Pokémon, however, it had a massive pain tolerance and damage resistance, soon squaring its shoulders and facing its opponent again.

Gardevoir didn't look much better than Blastoise - the Hydro Pumps had drained a lot of its endurance, and it was mentally exhausted from sustaining the Light Screen against so strong an attack for so long.

Both Pokémon were still ready for one last clash, though, and both trainers knew that this would be the deciding attack. They both called out their attacks at the same time.

"Blastoise, use Hydro Pump one last time!"

"_Gardevoir, fly up and use your most powerful Energy Ball!_"

Gardevoir quickly levitated higher and charged up a massive Energy Ball in its hands as Blastoise unleashed an incredible blast of water into the sky towards the Salon Maiden's Psychic-type Pokémon.

Gardevoir transferred the green ball of energy into one hand and held it above its head for a second, trying to gather as much energy as possible, before throwing down towards the incoming stream of water.

As the two attacks collided, Blastoise felt its Torrent ability about to kick in and grinned wickedly, using it to put in a little extra power surge into the attack. The result looked vaguely similar to a spear, but Ash (who was still watching) was reminded more of Pikachu using Volt Tackle to climb an opponent's Hydro Pump. The extra water pressure vaulted up the stream, reaching the stalemate with the Energy Ball. Gardevoir's attack managed to hold its own for a couple of seconds, fighting against the inexorable push of the Hydro Pump, but it was for naught, as the extra spear of pressure destroyed the Grass-type attack, removing it from the equation.

Gardevoir tried to teleport out of the way, but it was just too exhausted. The best it could summon was a headache, which was immediately augmented by a blast of water to the face. The impact was too much for the Embrace Pokémon, and it fell to the ground, fainted.

Blastoise let out a roar of victory as Maron examined Gardevoir, who was quite knocked out by the powerful attack.

Returning to his spot as referee, Maron announced, "Gardevoir is unable to battle, which means Blastoise is the winner again! Salon Maiden Anabel, please select your final Pokémon."

Anabel recalled Gardevoir, telling the psychic type that it did an amazing job, and pocketed the Pokéball, bringing out what would be her last partner for this match She threw the Pokéball containing her prized Pokémon into the air, calling, "Let's finish this, my friend!"

In a bright white light reminiscent of the sun, an Espeon emerged onto the field.

"_Espi, Espeon!_" the Johto eeveelution cried out.

"An Espeon, eh? This should be interesting..." Gary mused as he looked over at Maron, waiting for the battle to begin.

Maron confirmed that both teams were ready, before announcing, "The challenger's second Pokémon, Blastoise, will be taking on the Salon Maiden's final Pokémon, Espeon! Let the match begin!"

Gary pointed his finger towards the Sun Pokémon. "Blastoise, use Hydro Pump!" Blastoise responded by aiming its hydro cannons at Espeon and releasing a surge of water towards its new opponent.

"Espeon, dodge with quick attack_,"_the Salon Maiden called, momentarily forgetting to use mental communication. When she remembered, she added, _"get in close and follow it up with Zap Cannon!_" Espeon easily avoided the torrent of water, dashing over to Blastoise so that it could no longer target her with its Hydro Pump attack. Before the Kanto starter was able to react, Espeon conjured a glowing ball of electricity from the jewel on her forehead and fired it into Blastoise's stomach, sending the Water-type hurtling back into the barriers surrounding the field.

With a thud, Blastoise fell in a heap next to several small boulders, swirls in its eyes.

Maron looked over towards the fallen turtle and called out, "Blastoise is unable to battle! That means -" Maron was suddenly cut off as a bolder next to Blastoise moved, the turtle pushing itself up stubbornly. It slowly regained its footing and turned back toward Espeon, determined to take the cat-like Pokémon out.

Anabel stood there, shocked at Blastoise's incredible resilience and willpower. "Wow... what determination! After an attack like that, Blastoise should be finished…"

"Yeah, way to go Blastoise!" yelled Gary, knowing that Blastoise's Torrent would be at full force now. With that power available, maybe he could finish the battle now, and then he wouldn't even _need_ to use...

Gary's thoughts were cut off as Blastoise dropped to all fours for stability, directing its hydro cannons towards Espeon, who (Gary realized) was far enough away to target properly again.

Gary was about to call for one last Hydro Pump attack, but the inside of Blastoise's hydro cannons began to glow blue, silencing him. He quickly scanned his brain to figure out which move Blastoise was using, coming to an encouraging conclusion.

"All right, Blastoise, you finally learned it after all this time!" the researcher cheered. "Now we're really gonna give it to them! Let's finish it off with Hydro Cannon!" He smirked triumphantly as Blastoise released two massive orbs of water towards Espeon, who had no time to get out of the way. As the shots contacted Espeon's hastily constructed attempt at a Psychic defense, they created a huge explosion, obscuring the battlers' views.

After a few moments, the dust settled, showing Espeon still standing. It was scratched and panting slightly, but still standing strong nonetheless.

Gary's smirk turned to a frown as he realized that Blastoise still needed to work on focusing its new attack - much of the damage had been to the field surrounding Espeon rather than the Pokémon herself. Blastoise, also disappointed, turned to Gary, who nodded, acknowledging its effort. Satisfied that it had softened up Espeon enough for Gary's final partner, the exhausted turtle gave up the struggle to remain conscious.

Maron walked over to check this time, more certain of what he would find this time. He had assumed correctly; Blastoise was laying limp with swirls in its eyes.

The secretary/referee returned to his spot and raised his arm towards Anabel, announcing, "Blastoise is unable to battle, which means that Espeon wins! Gary, please select your third and final Pokémon."

Gary raised Blastoise's Pokéball and shot out the red beam, which engulfed the turtle and sucked it back into its Pokeball. Gary looked down at the ball containing his strongest Pokémon and simply put it back on his belt, knowing that his appreciation could not be conveyed with mere words.

"I knew there was a reason I chose him as my trump card, but this was absolutely astounding!" Gary commented loudly, directing his voice towards Ash. "I don't think you could even pull that off with your Charizard, could you? Oh, wait. Your Charizard is still in Johto, being trained by somebody else. Guess that just proves how much better than you I am..."

Ash, instead of listening, was mentally groaning. _"And here comes the ego. I swear, if I wasn't confident that Anabel could give his Umbreon a run for its money, I would be_so_angry - he doesn't know what it's like to try and face down two Legendaries in a row..."_He interrupted Gary, saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. But don't forget what I said about Anabel's strength - she could still take you out!" He turned to Anabel. "Hey, Anabel! Whup him good in this last match!"

Anabel nodded in acknowledgement, too confused about the small surge of power she had sensed from Ash to be flustered by his compliment. _"I thought he said he didn't have the ability to read people's hearts - so why does it_feel_like he does?"_

"Anyway," Gary announced, returning her attention to him, "I think I have the perfect Pokémon to finish this match up. Let's go, Umbreon!"

In a flash of white light he released the Moonlight Pokémon onto the field, where it faced its polar opposite.

_"Haha, I knew he would use Umbreon!"_Ash congratulated himself, before realizing something. _"Wait a minute - he never announced who he was using, so how_did _I know that?"_ He shook his head and focused back on the battlefield as Maron announced the matchup.

"Both trainers are down to their last Pokémon, so this match will determine the victor! The matchup, Umbreon versus Espeon. Let the final battle begin!"

Gary once again took the initiative, calling, "Alright Umbreon, start it off with Shadow Ball!" Umbreon nodded, creating a ball of ghostly energy in its mouth and firing it towards Espeon.

"_Espeon, counter with Zap Cannon!_" Anabel instructed, and Espeon shot out another ball of high powered electricity towards the incoming attack.

The balls of light and dark energy collided in the center of the field, creating an explosion that only really damaged the field.

"_Time to get in close,"_ Gary thought. "Umbreon, chain Quick Attack and Night Slash!"

"_Espeon, you do the same, but with Iron Tail!_"

Both Pokémon dashed forward at blinding speed, white streaks surrounding them. As they approached each other, Umbreon's claws began glowing with an almost black aura and Espeon's forked tail lit up bright white in the form of Iron Tail. When they collided, it kicked up a massive cloud of dust.

Inside the cloud, it was an all-out brawl. Espeon pummeled Umbreon with her Iron Tail attack at every opportunity, but in return was subject to several Night Slashes. Umbreon gave as good as it was getting, the type effectiveness of its attacks balancing out the higher speed with which Espeon was striking.

Even so, Umbreon was relieved when Gary told it to "break off and use Dark Pulse." Dodging a strike from Espeon's Iron Tail, it retreated to a safe distance to begin its attack.

"_Espeon, return to sender!_" Anabel telepathically instructed as Umbreon created another orb of dark energy in its mouth. Unlike last time, however, what shot towards Espeon was a beam of blackish-purple rings. The Sun Pokémon's eyes glowed a light blue as she attempted to take control of her opponent's move.

Unfortunately, the psychic energy only created a smoother path for the Dark-type attack to travel along, and Espeon barely cut off her power in time to dodge. That did spark an idea in her mind, though.

As Umbreon repeated the attack at Gary's prompting, Espeon sent a mass of psychic power towards Umbreon, confusing both trainers. Espeon had a plan, though, halting her mental aura around the unaffected Dark-type and extending a tendril of it towards the recently launched Dark Pulse.

Following the path of least resistance, the attack reversed direction and headed back towards Umbreon, who was too shocked to dodge, hitting it head-on.

As both Pokémon were tiring, Umbreon from the Iron Tails and Dark Pulse and Espeon from the Night Slashes and Hydro Cannon (which, although unfocused, was still quite powerful), each trainer decided it was time to heal up a bit.

"_Espeon, use Morning Sun!_" Anabel commanded through their mental link.

At the same time, Gary called out, "Umbreon, use Moonlight to heal yourself!"

As the Pokémon fulfilled their trainers' orders, it caused a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon to occur - both the sun and the moon blazed brightly above the field, causing a sharp division between dark and light. Both battlers basked in the healing radiation provided by their respective symbols, injuries disappearing in a gentle glow.

After another few seconds, both the sun and the moon vanished from sight, leaving both Pokémon better than they were before. Espeon, however, had been lower on health, and so was still breathing slightly heavily.

"Alright Umbreon, use your Shadow Ball!" Gary yelled as Umbreon finished recovering. In response, the Moonlight Pokémon fired another ball of ghostly energy towards its psychic counterpart.

"_Let's see if this works like last time. Espeon, use Quick Attack to dodge, then get in close and use Zap Cannon from close range!_" called Anabel mentally. Espeon responded to the call, quickly avoiding the incoming Shadow Ball and dashing in close to Umbreon, charging up another ball of electricity in front of her forehead.

Fortunately for Gary, though, he was ready for Anabel's tactic, calling out, "Dodge whatever's coming with Quick Attack!"

Espeon appeared right in front of Umbreon, startling it - but sadly for her, it was able to regain its composure and retreat backwards as she fired.

Gary, seeing the attack and betting on its accuracy, tried one more maneuver that could possibly win him the match.

"Umbreon, head right for Espeon with a full power Night Slash and finish it off!" Trusting its trainer, Umbreon dashed forward, charging up its Dark-type attack as it did so. Just as the attack was about to make contact, the ball of electricity curved upwards slightly, giving Umbreon an open lane to finish Espeon.

Umbreon finished the charge and struck Espeon with a powerful Night Slash, sending her flying backwards towards Anabel. Espeon landed hard with swirls in her eyes, having succumbed to almost the same circumstances as had been present against Pikachu. It was evident to all watching (a grand total of four) that Gary was the victor.

Maron, acting in his official role as referee, voiced this. "Espeon is unable to battle, which means that Umbreon wins. Salon Maiden Anabel has officially lost all three of her Pokémon, so the Frontier Battle goes to the challenger, Gary Oak."

Gary, instead of cheering for joy at his victory like Ash usually did, simply put Umbreon back into its Pokeball and praised it for a job well done before exiting the trainer's box.

Anabel, too, had recalled her fallen prized Pokémon to its Pokeball, praising its efforts as she exited her trainer's box and headed towards Maron.

Ash, at this point, ran down from the stands and was talking with Gary. He had just finished complimenting Blastoise and was about to mention the prediction phenomenon when Anabel coughed to interrupt the pair. "Ash, you should remember that there's still more to come - and you ought to pay attention to this part, since you'll have to give away your own Frontier Symbol at some point."

"Anyway; Gary Oak, you have shown that you have immense courage and trust in your abilities as well as those of your Pokémon. While that kind of bond may not be uncommon, the depth of your connection with your Pokémon is. You have demonstrated the abilities to work hard and think of new, creative strategies on the spot, the power of your Pokémon shows that you train them regularly, and the impression I have gained of you is that you care deeply for all Pokémon. Thus, it is my absolute pleasure to present you with the Ability Symbol." Anabel cheerfully presented an open case, allowing Gary to obtain his sixth symbol.

"Thank you very much Anabel, I really appreciate it," said Gary, taking the object from the case and putting it in his Frontier Symbol holder.

Ash pouted. "Aw, no cheesy pose?"

"That's your thing," Gary answered, before turning back to Anabel. "So when do I find out who the 7th Frontier Brain is?"

"Here, I can handle that for you. May I have your Poke-Nav?" Maron asked, holding out his hand.

"Sure, what for?" Gary wondered as he handed Maron the navigational machine.

"You see, ever since the Battle Frontier opened, a special coding has been implemented in all Poké-Navs so that if somebody like you ever gets to the 7th Frontier Brain, all I have to do is put in the authorization code and you will be all ready to find him." Maron responded. After another minute he gave the device back to Gary, a new light flashing on the map.

"So I assume that that must be where the 7th brain is?" Gary pointed to the blip, located near Saffron City.

"You are correct." Maron answered. "The 7th Frontier Brain is Brandon, the Pyramid King, and his Battle Facility is called the Battle Pyramid."

Maron's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "Just a bit of advice, you want to get there as soon as possible, because it might not be there for much longer."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" asked Gary, annoyed.

"Don't you worry, you'll understand when you get there." Ash chuckled, placing a hand on Gary's shoulder.

Gary gave the laughing Ash a look, trying to figure out what was so funny, but when Anabel and Maron joined in, he thought to himself, _"Do I even_need_to know?"_ With that, he started chuckling also.

* * *

After they left the field, Maron decided to go home for the day, and Ash and Anabel decided to show Gary out. He wanted to get to Saffron City before Brandon left, and so the trio bid each other farewell as they stood in the sunset outside the Battle tower.

"You know Gary, you're more than welcome to stay at my house for the night with me and Ash," Anabel offered.

Gary would have no part in that, though, and replied, "Thanks for the offer, Anabel, but if getting to Saffron City quickly is really so important, I want to get a head start on getting there." His smirk reappeared as he added, "Besides, if I were to stay at your house then that would mean I would be breaking up yours and Ashy-boy's alone time, and I just _couldn't_ bring myself to do that to the two of you."

Both Ash's and Anabel's mouths dropped open at that statement, faces flaming red. Gary snickered at the effects of his teasing. "Ahhh, that was funny. Anyway, it was good seeing you again Ashy-boy - and great to meet you too, Anabel. I'm sure that I'll be seeing both of you again soon… I mean, by the time I get to Ash's Battle Facility you should be a couple by then, right?"

Ash was about to deliver a (not-so) cutting response to Gary's teasing, but the researcher quickly turned on his heel and began walking the other way. Ash's retort died on his lips as his old Kanto rival walked into the distance, leaving the pair behind.

Night was now approaching fast, Umbreon's element taking over the skies with the rapidity of Espeon. Both Ash and Anabel were thankful for the growing darkness, as it hid the blushes from each other that Gary's comments had caused.

Anabel finally broke the silence and said, "Well, it's getting pretty dark now. I think we should head back to my house."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ash admitted. With that, the pair began to walk back to Anabel's house - a much easier trek for Ash than it had been a week ago, even in the dark.

The trip there was relatively silent, but Ash's brain was not. First of all, he was confused about what had happened during the battle, where he had known Gary's next choice of Pokémon. Upon examining his memory, he came across two incidents in his travels where he had experienced similar intuition - once in northern Kanto, and another time in Sinnoh.

Another thought kept intruding on his mind as well - he simply could not disregard Gary's parting words. Though he assumed his rival had been teasing him, that mysterious intuition whispered that there may have been a spark of truth in his statement.

As Ash concentrated on trying to decipher this feeling, his hand almost instinctively found Anabel's in the dark, making her jump somewhat at the unexpected contact. Worried about the spike of emotion within her mind, he looked at her barely visible form and attempted to give her a comforting smile.

Anabel quickly calmed down and, instead of pulling away, intertwined their fingers and gave his hand a small squeeze, her feelings resonating with his oddly radiant ones.

They walked on in silence, not needing to look at each other in order to know that they were both thinking the same thing.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright that was certainly a fun chapter to write and an awesome job done by MyNoseAgreesWithMe with the editing!

I really wanted to give Blastoise a good section in this story since he was one of the Pokémon I grew up with and I still have one now in Pokémon Black 2 so I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter and the battle!

That's about it for this chapter so I hope that you all enjoyed the battle, romance, and the chapter overall so with that I will leave you with the next chapter name:

**Crossroads Chapter 10: A New Mentor!**

That's all people! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	10. Chapter 10 A New Mentor!

**Author's Note:**

What's up everyone? I hope that you all enjoyed the last chapter since here is chapter 10 and it's not as long as the previous chapter but some pretty important events happen here so best pay attention!

I was toying with the idea for a while but have decided to include OCs in this story and after spending a lot of time outlining the way I wanted this story to go that's the decision I decided to go with so for this chapter we will be seeing the first and only OC until later in the story which is my own OC who I have made a couple of changes to him so I hope that you all like him!

Let me just say this; this is not an invitation to PM or review your OC to me right now. When I am good and ready I will put a note in a later chapter letting you all know when I will begin to accepting them as I'm not sure how many OC's I'll be taking but when I figure everything out I will let you all know.

On that note I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone that reviewed, favorited, and followed the story as I was blow away by the reception that the story received after the long layoff so thank you very much everyone!

One other really quick note is that I have done research but I'm not sure what Anabel's last name is other than her Japanese name Lila which people just use as her last name in English. So when I present my OC in this chapter I'm just going to present him as his own person sort of but you will understand what I mean.

That's about it so enjoy the chapter everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon. Although I do own my own OC as I was the one that created him.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 10: A New Mentor!**

_Previously on Crossroads: Gary appeared at the Battle Tower to challenge Anabel for the Ability Symbol. After a hard fought battle, Gary was able to win the Ability Symbol and find out the information about Pyramid King Brandon. Gary then departed, leaving Ash with some thoughts about his "relationship" with Anabel - whether this was intended or not, only Gary knows (and he's not telling)._

* * *

Within the next few days after Gary successfully gained the Ability Symbol from Anabel, things had returned to normal at the Battle Tower. Every day, Ash continued to learn more about how to successfully operate a Battle Facility, observing Anabel as she battled her challengers.

One of the things that Ash had to get used to dealing with at some point was paperwork (le gasp!), so Anabel decided to begin training him to handle it properly. There was a surplus of it to complete, as a greater than average number of Frontier Battles had occurred during the week, so after walking him through the first several forms, Anabel simply had Ash do some of it for her. (She did, however, look his work over for any mistakes later so she could point them out to him.)

The Pallet Town native wasn't exactly too keen on sitting around filling out forms for two or more hours straight, but Anabel pointed out that this was something that he was going to have to deal with when he became a Frontier Brain himself. In fact, this was more of a warm up compared to what he would be going through when he actually had to do everything himself.

"But won't I have a secretary to do this for me?" he protested.

"Even if you do, you'll still need to check over their work to make sure it's filled out right." she advised. "Now go get started, or you'll never finish."

Ash dejectedly took the stack of papers and headed out of Anabel's office. After discussing it with Pikachu, who had accompanied him today, he headed down to one of the battle floors to work. As he explained to Pikachu, the sounds of combat would get him hyped up on adrenaline, and he could (hopefully) utilize the ensuing energy rush to get through Anabel's paperwork faster.

Upon arrival, the electric mouse, who quickly became bored, laid down for a nap in the stands next to his trainer. As he drifted off, he thought he saw Anabel's Espeon watching him from the rafters like some sort of ceiling cat.

* * *

Following the instructions he had been given about how to do the paperwork, Ash was able to finish everything in about two hours and forty-five minutes. He then took a short break to relax and more closely watch some of the battles below. He was so concentrated on the spectacle that Espeon's meow took him by surprise.

Having been reminded of his assignment, Ash quickly went back over the forms he had filled out, making sure that every paper was done correctly. The challengers that Anabel had destroyed were pretty easy, as he pretty much only had to relate one side of the battle. Trainers like Gary took a bit more time, though, as Ash had to determine the techniques and strategies used by both sides, along with said details' impact on the battle.

After about fifteen minutes, he finished double-checking his work, collected all the papers, and tried to wake up Pikachu. Unfortunately, the mouse was snoozing too deeply, most likely dreaming of ketchup. With only one hand free, Ash was unable to rouse his partner.

Seeing his predicament, Espeon decided to help. Approaching the two, she circled Pikachu thoughtfully, before growing a sneaky smile. Curling up next to him as if they had been snuggling, she reached up and nudged Pikachu's nose with hers.

"Pi pika, Pikapi?" he questioned drowsily. Upon seeing Ash trying not to laugh, he began looking around to see what was so funny, only to come face to face with Espeon. "Chu, pi pikachu pika." (**Translation: "Oh, it's only Espeon."**) Noticing the paperwork in Ash's hands, he began stretching - only to run into something soft and fluffy.

Looking down, Pikachu noticed exactly _why_Pikapi was laughing at him and Espeon - or, more accurately, their proximity to one another. "Ka chu, pi-pika pikachu!" he exclaimed in embarrassment, dashing away with almost unnoticeably redder cheeks as he was reminded of a certain clingy rabbit's behaviors.

Espeon chuckled to herself, her theory confirmed. _" 'This isn't what it looks like,' eh? I guess Ash isn't the only one who's learning more about romance..."_

She walked away satisfied as Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, the duo heading back to Anabel's office. When he arrived, she was in the middle of doing other paperwork - taxes, insurance, that sort of thing.

Ash entered the office, gesturing in a grandiose manner. "My most benevolent liege, I have triumphed over the daunting quest that thou hast - OOF!" Picking himself up the floor and glaring at the stool that he was _sure_hadn't been there before, he finished up much more demurely, "I mean, uh... I finished all the paperwork you assigned me."

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu announced proudly, putting its small fist in the air as a sign of victory.

Ash sweatdropped. "Alright, first of all, the 'triumphant moment' is over, and secondly_,_all _you_did was take a nap!"

"Chu pika, Pikapi!" the mouse protested as his trainer deposited the stack of paper on Anabel's desk.

Anabel didn't even look up at the two's antics, simply saying, "Thanks, Ash."

Disappointed by her lackluster response, Ash asked, "Are you okay, Anabel?"

She just kept right on working. "I'm fine Ash… Why don't you go help with some trainers down on the battle floors or something?"

_"Man, now would be a great time to have Anabel's abilities so I could find out what's bothering her!"_He walked around the desk and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if something's wrong you don't need to keep it a secret from me. After all, what are friends for?"

Anabel finally looked up at him, leaning back into her chair with a mixture of emotions evident on her face. "Sorry, Ash - I'm just feeling kind of stressed is all."

"Why?" he wondered out loud.

"Well, first of all, there's girl problems, which normally make me somewhat irritable, and then there's all my duties at the Tower, and on top of _that..."_The Salon Maiden trailed off, sighing. _"Why_does he make me worry so much?"

"He?" asked the raven-haired trainer, slightly jealous of this unknown person.

"My idiot brother is late getting here," she answered. "Even though he's the kind of person that tends to be late to things, a whole week is kinda pushing it, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah, that's right! I remember you telling me about him on my first day here." exclaimed Ash, a slight tone of relief in his voice.

"He was actually due around the time that Gary came in for his Frontier Battle," Anabel informed him, "so I was surprised that he didn't show up. Don't get me wrong - my brother is a strong trainer, but he seems to have a knack for getting himself lost on his journeys. I'm sure he's fine, though."

"Chu pi Pikapi!" Pikachu chimed in, and an embarrassed look appeared on Ash's face.

" 'Just like Ash?" What do you mean by that?" Asked Anabel curiously.

"Well, you could say that I have quite a... unique... sense of direction - just like you say your brother does." said Ash, mareepishly scratching the back of his head. "Throughout my journeys, whatever group I found myself in inexplicably wound up lost - once we even managed to accidentally avoid a major _city_! And I'm not even going to get _started_ on the forests, that happened way too many times to recall."

Anabel laughed at Ash, her mood lifted slightly. "Oh, I'm sure that the two of you will get along famously."

Ash's reply was lost by the rumble of a nearby explosion. Looking through Anabel's windows, they saw that it had happened somewhere near Anabel's house.

"Oh no… Ash, come on - we've got to go!" yelled the Salon Maiden as she ran towards the elevator, Ash and Pikachu right behind her.

* * *

They quickly left the building and ran towards the blast site, not bothering to tell anyone where they were going. After all, there _was _no one to tell - the workday had just finished, and the only person still there was Maron, who had heard the explosion himself. Trusting to the pair to see to it, he began locking up the Tower.

As the pair approached the scene, Ash saw a flash of purple at about head height. "Ooh, looks like Paul's here - I wonder what he's doing." The trainer they came upon, however, was not the loner from Sinnoh.

This man looked to be around the age of 19, and had his hair styled slightly similar to Anabel's. His light violet eyes betrayed no fear as he stood down a large Tyranitar, sided by his Empoleon.

In a display of matching color schemes, the man's Pokémon Hockey League t-shirt perfectly complemented his partner's 'trim.' They stood about the same height, the trainer slightly edging out his Pokémon. In terms of strength, however, the Empoleon had its somewhat muscular trainer beaten. Even though the man's muscles seemed larger proportionally (an effect enhanced by his light tan), the aura of strength he seemed to emit paled in comparison to the steel-plated penguin.

His light blue backpack sat under a tree at the edge of the field, the instruction manual to his pair of white Running Shoes (_"But why would shoes need a manual?"_) peeking out of the side pocket. He also had a pair of sunglasses clipped to his trainer's belt.

Ash looked over at Anabel, disappointed. "Oh, I guess it isn't Paul. Do _you_ know who that is?"

Anabel answered by yelling, "I should have figured that you would be the one making all this noise, Corey!"

Corey turned and saw her standing there. He waved a blue-gloved hand, the stylized lightning bolt logo catching the sunlight. "Oh hey, sis! When did you get here? I'll be done in a minute, and then we can catch up, OK?"

Anabel just shook her head and pointed at his opponent, assuming that he had his work cut out for him against a Pokémon of that stature.

Returning his attention to the battle, the violet trainer broke the stalemate as he called out, "Admiral, Flash Cannon!

The Emperor Pokémon quickly opened its beak and launched a silvery ball of energy towards Tyranitar, who fired a Dark Pulse in retaliation.

The two attacks collided in midair, causing another explosion. Corey, unfazed, kept on the offensive. "Now, Admiral! Use Ice Beam!"

Empoleon this time fired an icy beam towards the Leer-ing Tyranitar, and the pseudo-legendary cut off its technique in surprise as the attack burst through the smoke, impacting it right in the chest. As a result, the lower portions of its body became covered in ice, spurring it to begin to Chip Away at the restricting material.

"Good, now get in close with Drill Peck while it's distracted!" commanded Corey, pointing towards Tyranitar.

As the Armor Pokémon broke free from the ice, the massive penguin began charging towards it, spinning like a drill. Trusting its defenses to hold, Tyranitar began gathering Dark energy in its teeth, preparing to Crunch its opponent.

Unfortunately, due to Empoleon's Steel typing, Tyranitar's attack was not as effective as it had hoped - Corey's partner managed to pull its wing free from the monster's maw and knock it back with the force of a Drill Peck. Such a move was not without consequences, though - Admiral also staggered slightly backwards, rubbing its head after colliding with Tyranitar's armor.

"Stabilize yourself and send Tyranitar packing with Hydro Cannon!" Corey ordered confidently. Regaining its balance, the Empoleon charged up a large orb of water in its mouth and fired it towards the off-balance pseudo legendary. Whether by coincidence or by design, the watery sphere impacted it in exactly the same place as the previous Ice Beam, scoring a critical hit on its weakest spot. It exploded on contact, sending the Tyranitar hurtling back into a tree - and then _through_ it, knocking over a couple of others in the process, before the Pokémon was finally stopped by another.

Tyranitar, apparently deciding that continuing the match would not be worth it, got up very slowly from the attack and limped away. As it looked back and roared at the victors, the shadows of two clouds made it look like the pseudo-legendary was wearing sunglasses, causing the image of a geysers at a sand spa to rise unbidden in Ash's mind. He dismissed it as simply his imagination, though, and turned back to see Corey giving Empoleon a thumbs-up.

"Way to go, Admiral - awesome job!" His prized Pokémon returned the compliment with a salute that looked as if it had been rehearsed (or performed) a thousand times.

"Wow… your brother's good. The way he battled, it looked like he had the match in the bag from the start." commented a very impressed Ash.

"Pi, chu ka pi!" Pikachu agreed from on his shoulder, looking equally astounded. One must note, however, that the key word here was 'looking' - Pikachu had noticed scars near Tyranitar's mouth that indicated the usage of Fire Fang and Thunder Fang, either of which would have been much more effective than a simple Crunch. The mouse wondered why it hadn't used one of those moves instead.

"Well that's my brother for you - I mean, he did win the Ever Grande Conference..." Anabel stated matter-of-factly as the barrage of thoughts rushed through Pikachu's head.

"What! He won the Hoenn League? Wow, he must be a really good trainer then - I mean, I _never_won, and look how good I am!" exclaimed Ash.

Anabel retorted by giggling. "It seems both of you have an ego problem too... neither of you is as good as you think you are."

Slightly offended, yet unwilling to pass up an opportunity to tease Anabel about her brother, Ash answered, "You know, Anabel - if I were a betting man, I'd say that you were a bit jealous..."

"What? No - in no way am I jealous!" she protested unconvincingly. "Look, just because he beat some random Tyranitar from out of nowhere doesn't mean anything."

"Whatever you say, Anabel..." Ash responded, a clear smirk on his face.

Deciding to continue the argument another time, they made their way over to the violet haired trainer. "Well... what do we have here?" Corey began, observing Ash with narrowed eyes and ignoring his sister, whose rage grew with every passing second. When it seemed to Ash that she was ready to punch him in the face, Corey finally turned to her with a grin. "So, when's the wedding?"

Ash's jaw dropped as a huge blush spread across his face. _"First Gary, and now Anabel's brother? Who's gonna be next, Brock? Oh, wait - come to think of it, he may have already said something way back then..."_ His thoughts were interrupted by a meaty thud, and he looked up to see Anabel with her fist still extended and Corey landing on the ground.

"Ahhhh! Why did you do that?" the purple-haired trainer yelled, holding the right side of his face in pain. Ash, Pikachu, and Admiral just looked on, dumbfounded.

"Why did I _do_that?" Anabel retorted, face twisting with rage. "_First,_ you show up late - and not just a day, but a whole week! _Second_, you battle close enough to my house that a stray attack could easily wreck part of it! And _third_, you insensitively insult my love life!" By this point, her fury had grown to the point where her abilities broadcast it purely, and both Ash and Corey paled in apprehension as she advanced on the latter. "So yeah, you're lucky that there aren't _more_ punches coming. And you'd _better_ have a good explanation for all this!"

"Look, sis - I'm sorry, it totally wasn't my fault!" he tried to placate her, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "You see, I was actually trying to get here faster, so I decided to take a shortcut through Mt. Silver so I could get here sometime last week. Unfortunately, I got a bit lost on my way through and ended up in New Bark Town, where I decided to ask Professor Elm for help. Once he pointed me in the right direction, I stuck to the roads, and after an extra week of travel - well, here I am. Also… sorry about the Tyranitar… I guess that it must have followed me when I left Mt. Silver."

"Even if you got lost, you still could have called to let me know where you were! For all I knew, you could have died or something!" she yelled, trying to release the stress. "You really have to get a better sense of direction - either that or a mobile communications system!" Breathing heavily, she managed to regain control of her temper as Corey climbed back to his feet.

"Look, even after years of trying, I can't help getting myself lost. It's a part of me, I guess, and there's nothing I can do to change that. But I said I was sorry, I'll look into getting a Pokégear or something, and I got here safely. Can we put this behind us now?"

Anabel just looked away with a frown on her face as Ash decided to intrude on the conversation. "Hi, I'm Ash Ketchum. It's great to finally meet you, Corey - from what Anabel has told me during my Frontier Brain training, you seem a lot like me - what with the getting lost and everything."

Corey chuckled as he looked at Ash and extended his hand. "It's great to meet you too, Ash. Corey Lila, at your service - although you might know me better by my public pseudonym, Corey Thornton."

As the pair shook hands, Ash commented, "Oh, Corey _Thornton!_ The same one who won the Ever Grande conference the year before I partici- hold on a minute, your last name is _Lila?_ Anabel, why didn't you tell me that?"

"Maybe I didn't _want_ you to know what it was..." Anabel replied stiffly, not bothering to face the pair.

Corey, wanting to get things patched up as soon as possible, walked over to Anabel put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Anabel - I really am. I know that you were worried about me, but you gotta have a little more faith in me - I wouldn't just go and die or anything like that. After all, I have all of my Pokémon with me, and if Admiral can take out a Mt. Silver Tyranitar while not at full strength, nothing out there could really have hurt me. You wouldn't want to try and take away my freedom, would you?."

Anabel's face softened (and Ash could have sworn that he saw a tear in the side of her eye) as she quickly turned around and engulfed her brother in a Teddiursa hug, saying, "Sorry for getting so mad, Corey… I just haven't seen you for the past year, and when you were late with no explanation, it really had me worried."

The older Lila nodded and wrapped his arms around her for a moment, neither of them speaking, before the two separated, a bright smile having replaced the frown on the Salon Maiden's face.

However, the mood was soon ruined by a yell from Ash. "Corey, I challenge you to a battle!" he announced, pointing a finger towards the now bewildered Corey.

"You want to battle right now?" the violet-haired trainer asked, mareepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, right now! I challenge you to a three on three battle!" the Pallet native confirmed. "I want to compare my skills to someone who has actually managed to win a league championship!"

"Sorry, Ash," Corey replied, regathering his thoughts, "but I only have one fresh team member - the one I kept in reserve just in case of emergencies. Normally, I wouldn't risk exhausting my last partner, but we have healing services available nearby, so I'd like to counter your three-on-three challenge with that of a one-on-one battle followed by a trip to the PC."

"That's fine with me, bring it on!" called Ash confidently. "Oh, but so we don't get Anabel any madder, let's move out away from her house into the field."

"Anabel, would you mind being our referee for the battle?" Corey asked as they walked over to the new area.

"Sure thing Corey, I can do that - but remember, if I'm the referee, that means my word is final. So you better not protest if my annoyance with you causes me to call penalties against you..." Anabel told him, sticking her tongue out slightly in a playful manner as she took her position on the field.

Before Corey could formulate a comeback, the Salon Maiden called out to both of them, "Alright you two, this will be a one-on-one battle with no time limit. The first trainer to knock out the other's Pokémon will be the winner - choose your Pokémon and begin!"

"Pikachu, you ready?" Ash asked, and the yellow mouse nodded and jumped off his trainer's shoulder. He ran onto the field in front of Ash, electrical sacs sparking.

"So you're going with your Pikachu, eh? Should've expected that..." Corey commented, unhooking two Pokéballs from his belt. "Admiral, return! Spectre, I need your assistance!" he called, recalling and releasing his Empoleon and Gengar respectively.

"Gen-gar! Gar, Gengar!" the ghost cried, grinning widely at its trainer.

_"A Gengar owned by a Conference Champion, huh? This is gonna be tough, but probably not as tough as Agatha..._" Ash thought, having been in this exact matchup back before he challenged the Frontier.

"Ash, you have the first move." called Corey.

"You got it, Corey." Ash pointed towards the Gengar. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika-chu! (**Eat electricity!**)" yelled the yellow mouse, releasing a stream of current towards the Shadow Pokémon.

"Spectre, dodge it and retaliate with Shadow Ball!" The Gengar, in a slightly altered re-enactment of Ash's battle against Agatha, sunk into the ground to avoid the incoming Thunderbolt, following it up with a ball of dark energy.

As the Ghost-type attack sped towards the Electric-type, Ash called out, "Pikachu, dodge and use Iron Tail!"

Once again mirroring the confrontation in Viridian, Pikachu used his athleticism to vault off the crackling orb, preparing for a diving Iron Tail. As his tail began glowing white and he started spinning to add momentum to his strike, Pikachu wondered why the Steel-type attack never actually looked like _steel._

The Sludge Bomb attack that Corey told Spectre to counter with _did_ have the proper Poison-type appearance, though, and the resulting wave of sludge pellets burst in midair near Pikachu, striking him with globs of ooze. However, the damage was not as bad due to Pikachu's spin, and he was able to shake off the remnants of sludge that remained on him as he fell. Bringing his tail down onto Gengar's head, he knocked the ghost to the floor, causing immense damage to it.

_"Huh, I was kind of expecting a Double Team there..."_Ash mused, before remembering that his opponent was not the aged Ghost Master. Seeing Gengar's impact with the ground, he ordered, "Now, hit it with another Thunderbolt while it's down!" Pikachu's response was as expected; he quickly fired another stream of electricity towards his adversary.

Unfortunately, Corey had anticipated this, issuing another command as Gengar stood back up. "Spectre, fight it off with Shadow Ball!"

The ghost immediately charged up and fired another Shadow Ball, aiming straight for the Thunderbolt. When the two attacks collided, they fought against each other just long enough for Spectre to evacuate the target area before the Shadow Ball exploded, forming an impromptu Smokescreen.

Corey immediately called out, "Spectre, Shadow Punch through the smoke!"

Upon hearing that, Ash quietly instructed his partner, "Be ready, Pikachu - that Gengar could appear at any moment. When you see it, evade if necessary and paralyze it with a Thunder Wave."

"Pika, Pikapi." called the yellow mouse in affirmation, perking up his ears. As the smoke continued roiling, he started moving his head back and forth to try and spot the Shadow Pokémon.

Finally, the attack broke through the smoke and charged towards Pikachu, who dodged it with ease and fired a Thunder Wave at his previous location. Sadly, that tactic played right into Corey's hands - the electrical energy caused Pikachu to cast a shadow onto the smoke above him. The Gengar, who had been waiting for that, manipulated Pikachu's own shadow into punching him (as the name Shadow Punch implied). Not expecting the attack to come from that direction, Pikachu had no time to dodge the second strike, which nailed him right on top of his head and pushed him against the ground.

_"Dangit, that didn't work... I need to clear the smoke so that he can't use that tactic again. But how to do that..."_ Coming to a decision, Ash called, "Pikachu… get up and use a wide-area Thunderbolt to clear the smoke."

Unfortunately, his moment of hesitation cost him, and Spectre began performing the Hypnosis that his trainer had ordered, preventing Pikachu from properly executing his attack.

The electric mouse swayed unsteadily on his feet, Gengar appearing to grow larger as the world warped around him. The ghost's eyes filling his vision, his Thunderbolt dissipated, and he collapsed forward onto his stomach, asleep.

"No, Pikachu…" Ash pleaded. You gotta wake up before-"

Ash was cut off as Corey yelled, "Spectre, finish with Dream Eater!"

A spiritual clone of Gengar detached itself from the Ghost-type's body, which went straight into the yellow mouse, and began wreaking havoc within his mind. As Pikachu writhed on the ground, Gengar's grin grew wider as the damage on its body began to disappear. It shrank again, though, as Pikachu's subconscious managed to fend off the worst of the effects, albeit leaving him both physically and mentally exhausted.

As Ash continued to implore his buddy to awaken, Corey told him, "Well, Ash, it's been a good match - but I'm afraid that I must put it to an end. Spectre, wrap this up with Shadow Ball!"

"Gen-gar" the Shadow Pokémon called in agreement, bowing in respect as it produced its powerful Ghost type attack and threw it towards its opponent.

"Pikachu, if you don't wake up now then we're gonna lose! Pikachu, please wake up!" Ash shouted desperately. All of a sudden, his vision swam and an image appeared - one that he assumed to be the inside of Pikachu's mind.

Inside, Pikachu was surrounded by darkness, the dream-eating image having just faded into oblivion. With the light from its enemy's glowing eyes gone, Pikachu could see nothing - but then a small light came into focus at the top of his mind. Determined to reach it, he began climbing, and about halfway up, he heard Ash's voice. _"Come on, Pikachu, you can beat this! I know you're strong enough!"_ His trainer's voice gave him determination, and with each passing second the light shone brighter and Ash's voice got louder and louder.

As Pikachu finally reached the light, he heard Spectre's voice softly telling him, "**You fought well, sir**."

Bursting free from his sleep as Ash finished his final plea, Pikachu took in his surroundings at the speed of adrenaline. "Chu pika, Pikapi! (**Let's do this, Ash!**)" he called, seeing the Shadow Ball moving as if in slow motion to deliver the finishing blow.

"Yes!" Ash cried in victory, pumping his fist. "Alright, Pikachu - dodge that and use Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu stayed low to the ground, quickly rolling out of the way of the attack, before springing forward and engulfing himself in a curtain of electricity. As he performed his final charge, the aura of electricity swept back like a Mach cone, almost to the point where it looked like a beam of pure energy.

"Spectre, get ready!" called Corey, and his Gengar got into a defensive position. "Wait for it… wait for it… Now! Spectre, Protect!"

The ghost instantly created a light green shield in front of itself, which Pikachu crashed into. While the yellow mouse would normally have been able to power through, Spectre had abandoned the rear portion of the 'bubble' in order to reinforce the front half - and that wasn't all. Not only was the defensive move stronger, but it was expanding outwards as Pikachu made contact, flinging him backwards rather than simply stopping him in his tracks.

"Yes! Spectre, finish with Night Shade!" On command, Corey's Gengar emitted a dark-colored beam from its eyes, hitting Pikachu in midair and sending the electric type flying backwards into a tree, the impact kicking up yet another cloud of dust.

When the dust cloud dissipated, Pikachu could be seen slumped up against the tree with swirls in his eyes.

Anabel looked over and called, "Pikachu is unable to battle, which means that Corey and Gengar win!"

"Pikachu, are you okay?" yelled Ash as he ran over to his fallen starter. Kneeling down beside him, he told Pikachu, "You did a great job - next time, we won't lose! But first, we gotta get you healed up."

"Pika… Pikachu…" the mouse replied tiredly as Ash picked him up. Cradling him in his arms, the Pallet trainer stood up to head back over to where Anabel and Corey were.

As he rose, he heard Corey telling his partner, "Alright, that's the way to get it done, Spectre! Awesome job!" The compliment was followed by a thud, and Ash turned around to see Corey faceplanted on the ground, Spectre laughing as it lowered its arm from high-five positioning. Corey started chuckling along, commenting, "Heh heh... you got me there, Spectre. I should have remembered that high-fiving ghosts doesn't work. But you know what? Being the trainer, I get the last laugh." He switched to a shrill, high-pitched 'annoying mommy' voice, pulling out the ghost's ball. "You're grounded until further notice, mister! And don't smuggle any snacks in, either! It was bad enough trying to get the crumbs out of the carpet last time..."

Ash was unable to keep from snickering at the absurdity of the last statement. "Wow, seeing your brother now makes me wonder how he's so good at battling," he commented as he walked over to Anabel. "If I hadn't seen him before this, I would have severely underestimated him."

"Well, that's my brother for you." Anabel replied. "He may act like an idiot sometimes, but his battling personality is totally different. In case you haven't figured out by now, his strategy mainly consists of offensive techniques, trying to avoid giving his opponent a chance to breathe. He does know when to defend when it counts, though."

"You're Absol-utely right," Corey told her as he walked up to them. Turning back to Ash, he extended his hand. "Great battle, Ash. Keeping in mind that all battles should be learning experiences, I want to hear what you took from ours."

Ash took it, answering, "Yeah, it was a great battle - but I don't really know what I need learn from that - your Gengar is just a really strong Pokémon. Not in the same league as Agatha's, but still strong enough that whatever mistake I made was fatal. What did I do wrong, anyways?"

"To be honest, there wasn't really much that you did do wrong in that battle." Corey told him. "Your Pikachu was amazing, and his athleticism is off the charts - especially with that spinning Iron Tail, that was incredible." He accompanied his praise by scratching Pikachu on the head respectfully. "The point in the match where I took control was right after the Shadow Punch hit.

"When that attack made contact, you hesitated in making your next move and allowed me to take command of the battle. Once I had called for Hypnosis, the match was pretty much over - no matter what, it would still have taken time for Pikachu to wake up, letting me prepare for a finishing move. With that in mind, I think you should work on your decision speed - the faster you can make a choice, the faster you can retaliate." Corey informed him.

Ash still looked a little bit down, so Corey added, "Ash, don't worry about it - overall, this is going to make you a better trainer in the long run. Even in defeat, there's so much to learn, and battles to be won with that new knowledge. I mean, look at me - I've advanced so far, but still, there's always more to come in terms of experience. In fact, I'd say you're actually pretty lucky, Ash. My reason: you've made it to at least the top 16 in every league that you participated in, where as in my first league I only got to the top 32 before I was knocked out. I did learn from that, and my Pokémon Advanced with me, eventually getting me to where I am now."

"Wait, you only got to the top 32 in your first league? Wow... maybe it's just due to luck, both good and bad, that I've gotten to where I am now." said Ash thoughtfully. "Strangely, though, that luck also seems to have manipulated my experience during my League journeys to sound kind of like a TV show. That would explain how Pikachu never seems super-powered whenever I begin a new region after losing..."

"ANYWAY..." Corey interrupted, "Let me tell you this; that was the point in my trainer career where I began improving the most - and after that, I won my first league, the Ever Grande Conference. If you're anything like me, I definitely see the potential within you to win your next conference, regardless what it is." Here he adopted a thoughtful expression, before snapping his fingers in decision. "As proof of my faith, I have a little welcoming gift for you." Corey rummaged through his bag, pulling out a Pokémon Egg case.

"Wow! Thanks a whole lot, Corey!" exclaimed Ash, gladly receiving the gift. He and Anabel looked inside to see the Egg, which was dark blue with gray dots around it. "Where did this come from?"

"Well..." Corey began, "It all started when a mommy Pokémon and a daddy Pokémon of compatible species were put in a Daycare together..." Seeing the unamused looks on their faces, he told them, "Okay, fine. While I was in New Bark Town, Professor Elm gave me this Egg and said that he would like for me to take care of it. However, I feel that this Egg should go to you instead - to help you out on your journey to become a Frontier Brain."

"Thanks again, Corey. I really appreciate it!" Ash responded. "By the way, do you know what kind of Pokémon is in here? I'm curious."

"Actually, no." Ash's face fell. "Professor Elm did tell me that he was given the Egg about a month ago," Corey reassured, "so it must be somewhat close to hatching."

"Well, you should have plenty of time to take care of it when we're not at the Battle Tower." Anabel told Ash, still examining the egg. "I'm sure that you'll do a great job!"

"Thanks, Anabel." Ash nodded gratefully at both of them. "I'm sure that whatever is in this Egg will definitely help me out a lot in the future."

Anabel smiled at Ash. Turning to her brother, she then asked, "So Corey, will you be joining us at my house? I still have the spare guest room available. Unless, of course, you want to camp out every night or hike in from town daily..."

"I think I'll take the first option." laughed Corey. "I mean, I love sleeping outside just as much as the next guy, but after a while I do miss a nice bed. And one close by, if possible."

"Well, come on then. It's starting to get late, and if you want a big dinner before too long, we ought to head inside now." said Anabel with a smile.

Ash and Corey exchanged glances with each other, Anabel, then each other again, before yelling, "YEAH, FOOD!" and running past Anabel in their hurry.

Anabel laughed at their actions and said to herself, "_Well, at least they get along - once me and Ash get together, they're gonna have to get along for a long time_."

With that, the Salon Maiden ran after the pair of boys, who (predictably for them) were running the wrong way.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Well that was a fun chapter to write with my introducing the first OC of the story and I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter as well!

Like Corey said, you gotta win before you lose and now were at the stage where Ash is really learning to become a better trainer so bear with me during Ash's development because it will be well worth it.

I would also like to make one thing clear to everyone that has asked me this question about Ash going to Unova with Gary and Anabel and the answer to that is no! Unova will not be involved in this story at all except for what happens at a later stage and you will see why but no Unova is not happening so kindly stop asking me about that since going to Unova isn't what this story is about.

Otherwise please review and tell me what you thought or if you don't do that then head over to my profile page and answer the poll question about what how think Crossroads can be improved, any and all responses are greatly appreciated!

That's all for me today and here is the name of the next chapter!

**Crossroads Chapter 11: Teaching in Motion!**

That's all people! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	11. Chapter 11 Teaching in Motion!

**Author's Note:**

Hey what's up everyone and welcome to chapter 11 of Crossroads which I believe you will enjoy more than usual as I have finally found a beta reader!

MyNoseAgreesWithMe will be my new beta reader for well however long he would like to do it I guess but if you would like to see another sample of his work, chapter 9 The Heart of a Turtle has been edited by him and is currently on the site.

Anyway, I would like to thank all the reviewers as usual as 14 reviews last chapter was really good so let's keep it up as were almost to 100! Also I have a small rant I guess you could call it at the end of the chapter for anybody reviewing so if you review please read it.

That's about it everyone so as always enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon. Although I do own my OC Corey as I was the one that created him.

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 11: Teaching in Motion!**

_Previously on Crossroads: Anabel was becoming worried by the fact that her brother was a week late from when he was supposed to arrive which caused her to be a bit more on the moody side. After hearing an explosion near her house, Ash and Anabel found her brother Corey battling a rouge Tyranitar. Once the battle concluded, Ash challenged Corey to a match, where Corey and his Gengar were able to defeat Ash and Pikachu. Afterwards, as a welcoming gift on his part, Corey gave Ash a mysterious Pokémon Egg._

* * *

_Tohjo Falls, Battle Tower – Kanto Region_

Since Corey's arrival at the beginning of Ash's third week of 'servitude', the Pallet trainer's free time had decreased dramatically. When he wasn't working at the Battle Tower with Anabel, he was training with Corey to improve the abilities of both himself and his Pokémon.

Their training usually began right after work, but after a few days the crowded schedule had begun to slowly wear Ash out. Anabel saw this and instantly took action, restricting his concentrated training sessions with her brother to every other day at most. This paid off, as Ash had more time to rest and just spend time relaxing with her.

Today was one of the days Ash had off from practicing with Corey, so he had planned to work exclusively with Anabel. Unfortunately, those plans were not to be, as Scott, who managed the Battle Frontier, would be stopping by that day to check on Ash's progress. And as much as he hated to admit it, Anabel's protégée was worried that he wouldn't be showing enough progress, which had kept him awake half the night.

Currently, the exhausted trainer was in Anabel's office as part of a tutoring session on the behind-the-scenes operations of the Battle Tower, having just returned from part one - Anabel demonstrating how to operate the complex elevator system that serviced the building. During this part of the exercise, he had to examine the facility's layout in order to learn where certain things were kept that contributed to the Tower's maintenance.

"This is where the main electrical room is… it contains all the power generators that keep the Battle Tower running during the day. Tomorrow I'll take you down there and show you how to fix some of the different machines, so that you know how to do it yourself." said Anabel, pointing to a room on the blueprints in front of her. "And here," she indicated, indicating another room, "is the room where we keep the backup generators, which allow us to keep essential systems running in the case of a power outage."

"Oh… what? Um, electrical room… fix things. Got it." An exhausted Ash stammered, trying to keep his eyes open throughout Anabel's explanation.

"Ash! Pay attention!" the lilac-haired maiden lectured. "This is a very important aspect of running your own Battle Facility. I mean, what would you do if all the lights suddenly went out in the middle of a Frontier Battle and you didn't know how to fix the problem?"

"Wait for Team Rocket to appear dramatically and say their silly motto as the lights slowly turned back on?" Ash cracked. Unfortunately, his attempt fell flat as Anabel glared at him.

"I'm _serious,_Ash." A spike of annoyance flashed through her already aggravated mental aura.

Ash sensed the emotional flare, having practiced trying to draw out the feeling that allowed him to read strong emotions (and, if he remembered correctly, eventually granted other abilities), and gulped. Being the utter genius he was, he attempted to placate her with another pathetic response.

"I'm sorry Anabel, but all this mechanical stuff just doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I'm no Noland here, so cut me a break."

"_Cut you a break? _Mr. Only-Has-To-Train-With-My-Brother-Once-Every-Four- Days-Instead-Of-Every-Two wants a _break?_" she retorted. "Besides, it looks like you're already _taking _one - could you please at least _stay awake _when I'm talking to you?

As Ash was trying to formulate a protest, the doors to Anabel's office opened, revealing the owner of the Battle Frontier himself.

"Scott! You're here already?" the boy asked in surprise as he stood up to greet the man, all thoughts of argument banished from his mind.

Anabel just shook her head and sighed. "You always have to come unannounced, don't you Scott? But shouldn't Maron have told us you were here?"

"Eh, the secretaries all have executive orders never to announce me." their portly visitor answered. "It keeps the surprise visits surprising. But anyway, I came to check up on Ash's training and ask him a few questions about his future Battle Facility, now that he's had a little while to think about it."

"Sure thing Scott, what do you need to know?" Ash responded, forgetting his worry and his drowsiness in the heat of the moment. "Oh, wait - where are my manners? Take a seat." He gestured to the remaining chair, which was (coincidentally) the comfiest.

"I see you have learned _something_…" jested Scott as he settled into the armchair, before getting down to business. "Okay, first off I need to know what you want your Battle Facility to be named."

Ash thought about it for a second, trying to recall his decision, before saying, "After discussing it with Anabel and Pikachu, I realized that one of the things that inspires me the most during a battle is the feeling of accomplishment I gain during League conferences. Knowing that I have made it that far gives me confidence - especially when people in the stands are cheering for me. I want to be able to replicate that feeling for the challenger. I know that thousands of people might not actually be in the audience, like they would be in an official conference, but I still want the visitors to feel like they are an irreplaceable part of the events taking place in the arena - like in the coliseums of an ancient civilization I read about somewhere. With that in mind, I decided that my facility will be called the Battle Colosseum, and its construction will draw inspiration from that nation's most famous example of such!"

"Hmm… Battle Colosseum, League conference feel…" Scott mused. "Okay, now that we've got that, what you like your symbol to be called? Once we figure that out, we can determine whether to base its looks off its name or your Facility, like we did for all the others."

"Oh, that? That's easy, it'll be called the Bond Symbol! You both know that I value having strong bonds with your Pokémon - like Pikachu and I do - so picking that as the symbol of my Battle Facility is a no-brainer. After all, If I'm going to give my symbol away to someone, I want to be able to see the bond that the trainer and his or her Pokémon exhibit in order to defeat me in battle.

"Thus, in order to earn my Symbol, challengers will have to demonstrate not only battling prowess but trust in their Pokémon as well. That way they can't just try and blast through with brute force, not caring about their Pokémon's well-being, if they want to win." Ash shook his head. "That kind of trainer really irks me, especially if they then release their Pokémon claiming that they're 'not strong enough'."

* * *

All across the five known regions, dozens of people simultaneously sneezed.

Of these people, Ash had met two personally, and he would have run into a third had he traveled to Unova.

Wiping their noses, they all wondered what had irritated their nasal passages.

* * *

Up in the Hall of Origin, Arceus sneezed, before returning to the observation of his Chosen.

* * *

"Hmm…" Scott mused, having tried to decipher Ash's speech during the preceding montage. When he had pieced it all together, he jumped up and said, "That's an excellent idea, Ash! I couldn't have said it better myself!"

"Well, maybe I _could,_" he added unconvincingly, "but this is exactly why I have the Frontier Brain help design their own Battle Facility - only they know exactly what they want! Now, do you have any special features that you want to be part of your Facility, so we can include those in the construction?" The Frontier owner took out a small notepad in order to write everything down, having decided to forget about trying to remember everything.

Ash looked at Anabel and, receiving a nod, turned back to Scott. "There's really only one thing I can think of right now - I want to be able to use all of my Pokémon at my Battle Facility so nobody feels left out. After all, only using a select few would be counter-productive to the idea that the Colosseum will stand for. Maybe you can figure out a way to rotate them evenly, so that they all get their share of battling time. Is that workable?"

"Okay, large Pokémon habitat area… selection mechanism… got it." said Scott, scribbling in his notepad. "Well, Ash, that won't be a problem - we'll make it our top priority to add those into the plans for your Facility. Is there anything else you wanted to add?"

Ash smiled. "Nope, that should be about it."

Scott closed his notepad and stowed it away. "Alright then, Ash. We'll get started now, and by the end of your apprenticeship your Battle Facility should be ready. I've already got construction crews lined up to work - I learned my lesson about last-minute hiring when one of Brandon's hovercraft engines nearly exploded."

Seeing the startled looks on their faces, he reassured, "Don't worry about a thing. My men and I are going to work around the clock to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"Thanks a lot, Scott - I appreciate that." Ash answered, still not completely convinced. However, a look from Anabel communicated to him that Scott was, in fact, serious about trying to avoid catastrophes.

"No problem at all, Ash." The man replied as he reluctantly heaved himself out of his armchair. "Now if you two will excuse me, I must be off. I want to get the planning done as soon as possible so we can start actually building Ash's Battle Facility!" He entered the elevator, waving farewell.

Ash and Anabel waved back, heading over to the window to watch him leave. As Scott's red sports car sped away (probably in excess of 100 mph), Ash realized something and stomped his foot angrily. "Man, I forgot to ask him _which _of the things we weren't supposed to worry about! He never specified, he just said _a _thing! Ugh... how about we just get the visit to the generator room over with now so that I can stop worrying about what not to worry about? If we do that, then we'll have more time tomorrow to prepare for the weekend tournament, too."

Anabel giggled. "So you _want _to do more work now? What a shame, I was just about to close up for the afternoon and take a break. If that's really what you want to do, though..." She trailed off, leaving the end of her sentence unsaid.

"Of course it isn't! - I mean, no it is - I mean... Oh, whatever, let's go have some fun!" yelled Ash, grabbing the Salon Maiden's hand and nearly dragging her out of her office.

* * *

The pair arrived at Anabel's cabin about 20 minutes later, 15 of which were spent dismissing all the employees and locking up the Tower. As they entered, they saw Corey laying on the couch sleeping. His Raichu, Boltblast, who (in another shocking similarity) was usually kept outside his Pokéball, was resting its head against the side of the couch, also in a deep slumber.

"Aww, look at those two," Anabel commented in a fan-girlish tone. "They look so peaceful and - don't tell my brother I said this - cute sleeping there like that." A contemplative look then appeared on her face. "My sisterly instincts are urging me to give them a rude awakening, but I also don't want to disturb them. Eh, I'll let them sleep for now."

"Oh sure, you let them sleep, but you wake me up with an air horn while suspended upside down on my first day. No need to explain, I see how it is." Ash teasingly complained. To further enhance the charade, he turned his head away from the Salon Maiden, nose in the air.

He was very much surprised when Anabel wrapped her arms around him in a hug, whispering mischievously into his ear. "You know Ash, I would really appreciate it if you forgave me for that little prank. If you do, I can make worth your while later…"

Somewhat confused about the sing-song tone of voice she had used in conjunction with her actions, Ash froze as the Salon Maiden pulled away laughing. When he recovered, she told him, "Go get ready, we're gonna go to the lake to relax for a little while. Oh yeah, and after your speech back in front of Scott, I'd be very disappointed in you if you didn't bring your Pokémon, so don't forget them."

Ash stood there, still somewhat dumbfounded, as the violet-haired girl walked down the hall to her room. His eyes were automatically drawn to her retreating form, and he noticed that Anabel was walking differently than normal - she seemed to be putting a little extra sway in her hips as she left the room. His hormones kicked in, causing him to blush as he attempted to shield his mind from inappropriate thoughts, like his mom had taught him.

As the door closed to Anabel's room, Ash regained his composure and went into his own, where he changed into his swimsuit - a pair of blue swim trunks and matching blue shirt, both sporting a black Pokéball insignia.

Ash then went back into the living room to wait for Anabel and saw that Corey had awakened from his slumber. As he entered the room, the violet haired trainer looked over and said, "I don't know what it is you've got, but you really seem to be making an impression on Anabel."

"What…? What do you mean by that?" asked Ash, his denseness once again interfering at the worst possible moment.

"Sheesh, come on, dude… my sister isn't the type of girl who normally tries flirting with guys. Trust me, I know."

"Wait… you saw that?"

"No, you just told me, Ashy-boy." laughed Corey as he put his feet up on the table next to the couch.

Ash was unable to formulate a proper reply, being annoyed with both himself for walking into that one and Corey for calling him "Ashy-boy."

Corey laughed again, relenting. "Alright, Espeon told me. But I would have noticed anyway..."

"I guess it _was _sort of obvious in retrospect," Ash admitted.

"Even if it wasn't, siblings tend to pick up things about each other after a while, so it would have been obvious to me. But anyway, since it's just us right now, I have something I need to tell you. I would give you a long, drawn-out speech, but Anabel will probably be out in less than five minutes.

"So all I'm going to say is this: please take good care of her, Ash. One of my former traveling companions was hurt badly by her boyfriend, and I don't want that happening to my sister. Please promise me that you won't hurt Anabel."

Ash looked right back at Anabel's brother, confidently saying, "I promise, Corey. But I'm curious, what happened to your companion after that?"

Corey got up from the couch and walked over to the door, Boltblast in tow. "Thankfully, her boyfriend realized his mistake and apologized. Once I had verified that he was sincere - my abilities only extend that far - they made up, and have stayed together for about a year now." As he opened the door, he added, "Let Anabel know that I'm going out on a walk for a little while, and that I'll be back later."

Ash nodded at Corey, who nodded back in response, closing the door behind him on his way out.

Once the door shut, Pikachu emerged from behind the couch and leapt onto Ash's shoulder, nuzzling him affectionately.

"Hey, buddy! I was wondering where you were. I bet you were trying to give me and Corey some man-to-man conversational time, which is why you didn't come out right away, right?"

"Chu pika, Pikapi!" the mouse affirmed.

"And _what,_ may I ask, was this 'conversation' about?" asked a voice behind him.

Ash turned around to see the subject of the conversation herself, arms crossed across her chest and a no-nonsense look on her face. "And don't think you can Buizel your way out of telling me."

"Oh... Anabel…heh, heh, heh... Yeah, umm we were just talking about... uh... the different types of food we give our Pokémon! You know, just comparing recipes…" Ash nervously fibbed.

"You know Ash, if you're going to try lying to a girl, pick one who can't read your emotions and figure it out. And even then, you need to at least make it sound believable instead of spouting nonsense like 'I need to go iron my Growlithe' or something similarly stupid."

"I'm sorry, Anabel…" the raven-haired trainer said softly, looking down and hanging his arms in an exaggeratedly depressed fashion.

"Pi pika, Chu-ka..." Pikachu mimicked, imitating his trainer's actions. (Due to Pikachu's talent for miming looks, his performance was much more convincing than Ash's - at least in Anabel's opinion.)

Convinced that her friend was sincere, despite the hamminess of his actions, Anabel forgave him. Then, deciding to play along with the exaggeration theme, she lifted up Ash's head with a finger and playfully teased, "You know, Ashy-boy, you could always make it up to me by giving me a foot massage when we get to the lake."

Ash wasn't sure what bothered him more - that Anabel had called him by his least favorite nickname, or that her usage of it genuinely _didn't_ bother him. But even as one part of his mind processed that, another actually _recognized _that she was flirting again - and he didn't know quite what to think.

Drawing on the inner guiding power that he had been (albeit very slowly) teaching himself to harness ever since Gary's visit, he felt a sense of affirmation - that he should accept her offer. He nervously responded, "Of… of course, Anabel. I would... I would love… doing that for you."

Anabel whooped in victory, accidentally waking up Espeon, then grabbed Ash's hand and started dragging him out the door.

WHAM!

"It might help if you _opened _the door first," Ash pointed out as they picked themselves up off the floor, gathering up their spilled supplies.

"Eh heh heh... Right." Anabel giggled, and they ran out the (open) door and towards the lake. Unfortunately, _this_ time they left the door _open._

Espeon walked delicately out behind them, closing the door with her psychic abilities, and followed the duo (and Pikachu) over to the lake.

* * *

Once the pair reached the lake, Anabel looked around and said, "This looks like as good a spot as any. Let's get set up and then bring out all of our Pokémon."

Ash nodded, already starting to unpack their towels and (of course) food. Once he finished, he took the five Pokeballs off his belt and threw them into the air. "Come on out, everyone!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder as his other partners appeared in a flash of white light, calling out their respective species names. Anabel did the same with her partners as Espeon emerged from the woods.

Soon, all fourteen of them were playing around happily in the lake, holding a massive splash tournament. The native Magikarp won, of course, and after a while, they sat on the grass drying off.

"Hey, Ash?" the Salon Maiden questioned.

"Yeah?"

"I was just thinking; it's been awhile since we last had a battle, so why don't we have a battle right now?"

"Great idea, Anabel!" Ash excitedly responded. "Singles or doubles? I would suggest a triple battle, like I hear take place over in Unova, but I don't think either of us is ready for that yet."

"I was thinking a double battle," she answered, looking over all the Pokémon in front of them. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sounds perfect! Hmm… who should I choose, though?"

"You mean you haven't already decided? Such a kid..." Anabel teased.

"Hey, come on, 'Ashy-boy' is bad enough!" the Pallet trainer complained. "Oh well, at least I'm not stuck traveling with someone who calls me that on a regular basis..."

* * *

Over in Unova, an aspiring Dragon Master with bushy purple hair sneezed in tandem with her Axew's "Dragon Sneeze" attack.

* * *

"Anyway, I already know which Pokémon I'm going to use." Anabel responded. "Starmie, Kirlia, it's your time to shine, my friends!" she directed, and said Pokémon moved to stand in front of her.

"Hmm… Starmie and Kirlia… In that case; Bulbasaur, Quilava, I choose you!" Ash yelled. The two Pokémon jumped for joy and raced in front of Ash, eager to begin the battle.

"Alright Ash, I don't think we need a referee or anything, so let's just say that whoever knocks out the other person's Pokémon first wins! But what will the prize be?..."

"How about this: if I lose, I'll skip supper, and if _you_ lose... Um, you can choose that."

"Smart choice, Ash," she jibed, tapping the bridge of her nose. "I say... if I get beaten, I'll forgo that foot massage I was promised earlier."

Ash weighed the options to determine how badly he wanted to win: giving a foot massage and missing supper, or eating food and getting out of a deal that he wasn't quite sure exactly how to fulfill. It was, quite obviously, an easy choice.

"Alright, Ash. Be my guest," said Anabel as they assumed their positions on the makeshift battlefield.

"Nope, ladies first." Ash answered with a grin. "Besides, once I become a Frontier Brain, I'll have to get used to giving my opponent the first move, right? Might as well get started now..."

Anabel was caught slightly off guard by Ash's response, but recovered quickly. "Alright then, Ash - I'm very impressed with your choice there! Anyway, Starmie, use Hydro Pump, and Kirlia, speed it up with Psychic!"

Upon hearing Anabel's call, Starmie aimed a powerful stream of water from its jewel towards the pair, and Kirlia's eyes glowed a light blue as he began manifesting his Psychic power. A blue aura surrounded the Hydro Pump and raised its speed, sharply increasing its momentum in the process.

Ash countered the powered-up jet of water by calling out, "Bulbasaur, jump with Vine Whip, and Quilava, head underground to avoid the attack!"

When the boosted Hydro Pump came near, Bulbasaur released a pair of vines from the base of his bulb and launched himself into the air and out of harm's way. Quilava, on the other hand, quickly performed a small jump to give itself momentum before digging into the ground, also avoiding the attack.

"Now, Razor Leaf from above, followed by Flamethrower!" called Ash.

"Kirlia, get in front of Starmie and block the attacks with Protect!" Anabel responded.

After hearing Anabel's instructions, Ash murmured just loudly enough for Quilava to hear, "Wait until the Protect dissipates to fire your attack!"

Bulbasaur, although falling towards the ground at a high rate, had complete control over his movements, and launched barrage of sharp leaves towards Anabel's Pokémon. As the lilac-haired trainer had planned, however, the attack was nullified when Kirlia sprang in front of Starmie and created a light green shield around them, which the leaves harmlessly bounced off.

As the Protect began to dissipate, Quilava emerged from the ground and fired a stream of flames towards its opponents, hoping to catch them off guard. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

"Starmie, block the attack with Light Screen!" commanded Anabel. This time, it was Starmie's turn to defend, and it moved in front of Kirlia and created a yellow box around the two partners as Bulbasaur landed, shedding its momentum with a quick roll.

When the Flamethrower collided with the box, it attempted to push through, but Starmie's Light Screen held fast. It may not have been as powerful as the one that Gardevoir used against Blastoise the other day, but it was sufficient to hold off the hits it was sustaining.

"Bulbasaur, follow the Flamethrower up with Leech Seed! Ash called, making a star shape with his hands to indicate the target as both Quilava's attack and Starmie's defense began to lose power.

Once the Light Screen disappeared from Starmie and Kirlia, Bulbasaur fired a small seed from its bulb towards one of the opposing Pokémon. Unable to determine who it was aimed for, and knowing that Kirlia could not perform another two-person Protect without more recharging, Anabel took a gamble. "Protect yourself, Kirlia!" she called, hoping she had made the correct choice.

Sadly, she had not - Bulbasaur had aimed for Starmie, and his projectile now hit the Mysterious Pokémon on one of its upper spikes (which Ash assumed, due to its orientation, functioned as the head). The seed then opened up, sending out vines that quickly wrapped around Starmie, engulfing it in red light for a second before the energy-draining net was shredded by the starfish's spines.

"Yes! That worked perfectly! Now, Quilava, follow that up with Flame Wheel!" yelled Ash. The second-form Johto starter nodded and charged towards the pair of Pokémon with a sphere of fire surrounding it.

"You know Ash, just because you got a couple of moves off on me doesn't mean you're going to win," Anabel called, attempting to lower his morale. "You shouldn't become cocky - the challenger could always pull out a surprise on you." She switched to mental communication. "_Like this one!_ _Kirlia, use Psychic to stop Quilava, then Starmie, fire a Water Pulse!_"

"Oh, yeah? Bulbasaur, power up Quilava with Sunny Day!" As Ash said these words, Quilava suddenly stopped short and was hit by a compact sphere of water from Starmie, which threw it backwards. Seeing the Psychic glow in Kirlia's eyes, the trainer realized that Anabel was using telepathy again.

"Quilava! Are you alright?!" he asked. Instead of answering, Quilava got up and began staggering around in circles, aimlessly shooting fire into the air. Bulbasaur recognized his fellow starter's confusion and, instead of using his gathered solar energy to potentially turn Quilava into a fire hazard, used it for a not-yet-mastered Synthesis instead.

Ash realized it too. _"Dangit! If this was a League battle I would just switch Quilava out to heal the confusion, but I can't do that here!"_

"_Perfect!"_ Anabel complimented._"Now Kirlia, use Shock Wave on Quilava!_" Kirlia nodded in response and mimicked Gardevoir's arm movements from the battle with Blastoise, preparing to fire a stream of lighting towards the confused Pokémon.

Now, as we all know, Shock Wave is considered a "never-miss" technique - and there's a reason for that. The energy that the user puts into the attack enables it to track the movement patterns of its target, guaranteeing a hit. However, this very accuracy mechanism was what kept Quilava safe - its erratic gait of confusion _had _no pattern to track. As the Volcano Pokémon was about to get hit, it spontaneously twisted in mid-air, just barely avoiding the attack.

Ash, knowing that Quilava's accidental employment of the Tangled Feet ability would only last so long, was looking for a way to counter the attack. As he noticed Quilava's unintentionally graceful dodges, he was suddenly reminded of a League conference he had once participated in, giving him a stroke of inspiration.

"Bulbasaur, remember how that Grass-type back in the Indigo League canceled out Pikachu's Thunderbolt? Do the same thing!"

"What! Cancel out Thunderbolt without a Ground-type move?" yelled Anabel as the Kanto Grass-type starter jumped in between Quilava and Kirlia, sending out his vines toward the ground as he moved. As he landed, his vines dug into the ground right before the Shock Wave impacted. Much like when Pikachu used Thunderbolt on Bellsprout, the electricity was conducted harmlessly into the ground, having absolutely no effect.

Upon seeing this, Kirlia ceased the attack, knowing that trying to sustain the electricity would tire himself out without doing any good.

"Wow, Ash! I must say, you really have improved since last time. Normally you would have been all frantic, like, 'Quilava, nooooo!", but instead you calmly pull out yet another off-the-wall battle strategy. Nice job," she praised.

"Thanks Anabel - I never would have even known that was possible if it hadn't been for a deceptively weak-looking Bellsprout that gave me a whole bunch of trouble back in the Indigo League."

"Wait… you had trouble with a Bellsprout?!"

"Look Anabel, this wasn't just any old Bellsprout - I mean, it seemed as if it was on steroids, and it knew some kind of garden karate or something crazy like that. It took out Bulbasaur and Pikachu before I was finally able to stop it with Muk!"

"Bulba, Bulbasaur!" "Pika, Pikachu!" both of Ash's Pokémon complained, clearly embarrassed by the fact that they had both been defeated by a Bellsprout.

"Heh-heh-heh, sorry, guys. I didn't mean to insult you… Besides, that was our first conference, remember?" Both Pokémon ignored his apology and looked away from the raven-haired trainer, trying hard to keep a straight face. "Yup, they forgive me."

Anabel, seeing that Quilava had nearly recovered, cut in. "You can tell me the rest of that story later, but for now we have a battle to finish! _Starmie, use Hydro Pump on Quilava!_"

Upon hearing that, Ash redirected his attention to the battle, wary of any mental commands. When Starmie fired a Hydro Pump, he countered by calling out, "Both of you, dodge that!"

Bulbasaur was able to successfully avoid the attack, firing another Leech Seed on his own initiative, but Quilava couldn't say the same. Unable to completely shake off the confusion in time, the Volcano Pokémon was hammered by the Hydro Pump and sent backwards into a tree. It had regained enough of its control to mute its back flames so as to not burn down the tree, though.

Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that Quilava probably wouldn't be able to take much more after two super-effective attacks of that magnitude combined with the impact with the tree. On the bright side, his Fire-type starter's Blaze ability had been activated, giving it a power boost.

"You can do this, Quilava!" Ash encouraged. "Get in there and show them who's boss with a Flamethrower!" Quilava, who was breathing quite heavily but was still up for combat, opened its mouth and fired another stream of flames towards Anabel's Pokémon.

Anabel called for another Protect from Kirlia, but he was forced to break off and dodge as several Razor Leaves whipped past his head. Unable to erect a proper defense, Starmie and Kirlia were engulfed by the fire - although it did less damage to Starmie due to its Water typing. It did, however, bring to Starmie's attention that it had been Leech Seeded quite a while back. The effects of the energy-draining attack hit, and the Water-type flinched in pain from the damage it had sustained.

"Alright, Bulbasaur, let's wrap this up with Solarbeam!" yelled a confident Ash, pointing a finger at Anabel's Pokémon.

As Bulbasaur began to absorb photons and solar energy into his bulb, Anabel called out, "You're not going to finish me that easily, Ash! _Starmie, Rapid Spin into a Hydro Pump, and Kirlia, you use Magical Leaf! If he uses a fire attack, catch the leaves on fire and send them towards Bulbasaur!_"

Starmie immediately launched itself forward and began to spin rapidly, its spikes blurring into what seemed like an extremely sharp disc, as Kirlia conjured up a number of glowing leaves before waving his arms to send them all the projectiles flying towards Ash's Pokémon.

"Quilava, defend Bulbasaur and use Lava Plume as a wall to block the incoming attacks!" Ash instructed.

As the attacks approached, the flames on Quilava's back began glowing reddish-white, as Blaze gave it one last surge of power. Quilava then opened its mouth and released a torrent of flame from all its available sources, the heat of the attack approaching the potency of lava (as its name suggested). Focusing hard, Quilava concentrated its attack into a defensive move, forming an almost solid wall of fire in front of Bulbasaur.

The Magical Leaves were unable to make it through the inferno, but Starmie was a different story. Its Rapid Spin attack helped funnel away the heat, as well as protecting any one spot on Starmie's surface from being exposed for too long. Reinforced by its Water-type resistances, the Mysterious Pokémon was able to penetrate the wall, causing Quilava to look up in shock before getting blasted by a torrent of water at point-blank range.

As expected, Quilava was KO-ed by the attack, and the supply of flames cut off as it succumbed to unconsciousness. The fire, no longer contained, quickly expanded outwards, turning the excess water into a cloud of steam that obscured both trainers' vision.

Starmie returned to its position next to Kirlia, wary of the hidden Bulbasaur inside the fog. Anabel looked over as the steam dissipated, expecting to see the Grass-type harmed by its partner's attack and splash damage from the Hydro Pump, but what met her eyes was... nothing. Confused, she took a closer look.

Ash, on the other hand, knew exactly what had happened, and a grin grew on his face as the ground around a small green patch began rumbling. The vegetation began rising up, revealing a bulb that glowed with an almost white light as Bulbasaur emerged from the hole in which he had taken refuge.

"Alright, Bulbasaur! Finish with Solarbeam!" roared Ash, pointing his finger at the two opponents that the plant-dinosaur still faced.

"Bulba-saur!" he grunted in acknowledgement, leaning down so he could properly target Anabel's Pokémon. Once his aim was aligned, the Kanto Grass Starter unleashed a tremendous beam of pure solar energy towards his stunned victims.

Anabel and her Pokémon were unable to react in time, and the laserlike burst of sunlight engulfed the battlers, creating a massive explosion (as was to be expected during an Ash Ketchum battle).

"Starmie! Kirlia! Are you okay?" she called (forgetting to use telepathic communication) as Bulbasaur continued pumping power into the attack. She was amazed that he still had power to burn off - his capacity seemed to exceed even that of some Venusaurs!

Eventually, however, his attack tapered off, and he walked over to Ash's side of the field, leaving the duo of Psychic-types fainted in front of Anabel.

"Welp, I guess that's it." Ash commented, returning Quilava, who had just woken back up, to its Pokéball. "Nice job, Quilava. You too, Bulbasaur."

Anabel ran over to her fallen Pokémon, supporting each of them with one of her hands as they slowly regained conciseness.

"You both were magnificent - I'm very proud of your performances today." she told Starmie and Kirlia softly as she recalled them to their respective Pokéballs.

Anabel then stood up, planning to ask Ash about both what had happened with Bulbasaur and why he had said "welp" instead of "well" during his closing statement. However, the words died on her tongue as she saw Ash walking over to her - an unbidden train of thought took over her mind instead. "_Wow… his ability really has improved drastically during his time in Sinnoh. Add to that his __impressive __looks, and it's a wonder that he's not flocked by fangirls wanting to date him. I wonder, though... What would he do if I -_"

"Hey Anabel, you alright?" Ash interrupted. "You looked kinda zoned out there."

Anabel regained her composure and tried to hide her embarrassment behind a mask of annoyance. Poking his chest with her finger, she lectured, "You know Ash, you didn't need to be so rough there. I mean, using a Solarbeam of that magnitude was _way_ overdoing it for a battle like this. You really need to work on holding back the flashy stuff - we don't need yet _another _Tucker."

Ash didn't really know what to say to that. "But... but that's just how I do things..." he managed to stutter out.

Anabel could hold her Poker face no longer, and giggled, "Of course it is, and that's part of why I find you so adorable..." She quickly swooped in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before she pulled away blushing.

Ash, who was now also blushing, decided to take refuge in that which he knew on a level second only to his Pokémon - the consumption of food. "Uh, how about we eat dinner now?" he nervously requested.

"All right - I'm feeling kind of peckish too." Anabel admitted. As they walked over to their picnic blanket, they (almost as an afterthought) called their battling partners back out for the meal.

"Ahhh... that was some good food." Ash sighed, rubbing his bulging stomach. "Kinda makes me want to just sit out here doing nothing for a while - don't you agree, Anabel?"

"Uh-huh..." she answered. "But it looks like our Pokémon don't see it the same way." She gestured over to where Bulbasaur was firing Razor Leaves like clay pidgeys for Quilava to target, Alakazam and Metagross were levitating boulders, Pidgeot and Kingler were practicing evasion and accuracy respectively, and Pikachu was trying to use Shadow Sneak to hide from Espeon. His trainer may have been able to stand what humans called 'flirting,' but _he_wasn't ready to this soon after Buneary, thank you very much.

"Yeah, looks like you're right. But where are Starmie and Kirli- oh, there they are." Kirlia was practicing his close-range combat moves by punching and kicking at several Barriers set up by Starmie, training for when he became a Gallade.

As an especially vicious kick contacted the Barrier, Ash winced. _"That had to have hurt."_ His own foot started aching in sympathy. _"You know what would feel really good about now?"_he asked himself. _"A foot massage, like the one I promised Anabel earlier..."_

Reaching over, he tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, wanna go over there and sit by that tree?

"Why?" asked Anabel curiously.

"I'm going to give you that foot massage that you wanted so badly before."

"Wait a minute, Ash. I said that if you won then you wouldn't have to, and I'm a girl of my word."

"I know you are, but I want to." Ash responded.

"Well, isn't here just as good a place as any?" she asked, taking off her shoes to reveal her bare feet.

Ash faked a faint. "Well, now I see why you wear shoes so often..."

"Hey, this is a massage session, not an insult session!" Anabel protested as Ash began to work. As her crush massaged the tense muscles in her feet, she couldn't help but let out a small moan of pleasure as her muscles began to relax.

Ash heard that and snickered, knowing he had leverage now. "What was that I just heard, Anabel? Did you just ask me to stop?"

Anabel's face flared brightly as she shakily answered, "N… no, Ash, that feels good. Plea… please continue."

Ash didn't respond, instead continuing to massage her feet. As a wave of relief swept through her tense muscles, Anabel almost let out another moan of pleasure - thankfully for her, she was able to keep it in this time.

As he worked, Ash thought he heard Pikachu softly singing, "Chu-ka Pikapi, pi-chu pi ka pii, Chu-Pi-Ka-Ka-Pi-Chu-Pi! Pi ka chu, chu ka..." His song trailed off as he spotted Espeon lurking in the bushes, before letting out a nervous laugh and dashing away from her line of sight.

_"So he's okay with teasing people about that sort of thing, but can't take it himself? Sounds suspiciously familiar..."_Ash continued for another 10 minutes, lost in thought. When he realized how long he had been sitting there, he stopped, about to ask Anabel if she wanted to head back. His words met the fate of so many others as he realized that the Salon Maiden had fallen asleep.

Ash, not wanting to disturb her slumber, got up and recalled their Pokémon before coming back over and gently picking her up bridal style. The raven-haired trainer proceeded to walk back to the log cabin, knowing that even if she had been awake, she would likely have just crashed on her bed for the night once they arrived.

As he walked back flanked by Pikachu (who lit their way) and Espeon (who had the picnic supplies), Ash looked at the girl he had in his arms, thinking that it might not be as bad as he had originally assumed if they became a couple - they had sure acted like one that evening. Maybe they would get together in time - but what if that time was now?

Deciding it wouldn't hurt to try, Ash came up with a plan to implement once they got back to the cabin - which came sooner than expected. Were it not for a weak Thundershock to the ankle, he would have collided with the door for the second time that day.

Once inside, he carefully set the Salon Maiden on her bed so as to not wake her up, and she instinctively began to hug a stray pillow. Walking out to the kitchen, the raven-haired trainer got a slip of paper and wrote a note that simply said, "_Wanna go on a date with me?"_

Ash then went back into Anabel's room and placed it on her nightstand, hoping that it would be the first thing that she saw then she woke up. He then quietly left the room as Espeon entered, gently closing the door behind him.

Pikachu, who had been helping Espeon unload supplies, climbed up onto his shoulder, and Ash asked him, "Do you think this will work, buddy?"

The electric mouse had not been privy to Ash's plan, and so simply shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "I dunno."

Ash looked at his best friend, smiling wryly. "Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Pikachu." he said sarcastically. With that, he made his way over to his room, ready to crash for the night as well.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter as there was quite a bit of Abilityshipping, and I battle in here so I figure that should appease everyone!

Once again I would like to really thank MyNoseAgreesWithMe for agreeing to become my beta reader for story so all the chapters for now on should look much better for all of you!

Now for my little rant like I said; so basically I just want to say that I'm happy with all the reviews that I'm getting and I'm almost at 100 which is awesome but the quality of the reviews has been lacking a bit for lack of better terms. If you review please don't just say "good chapter" or "cool story" whatever it might be, I mean I appreciate every review that I get but saying things like that doesn't help me improve on what I need to do better in the story. So if you are going to review please tell me what you actually liked or didn't like about the chapter and if not then at least answer the Poll on my Profile Page which basically asks what you think I need to do to improve the story.

**Beta-Reader's Note:**

To reviewer MysticGalaxia - I am actually the one who added in the tidbits about Ash's Aura during this and Chapter 9, and don't worry - it will not be a major plot point. It will simply be another facet of the way he bonds with his Pokémon (and finally manages to "read Anabel's heart.") So essentially, I only plan to have it help facilitate the plot.

Just wanted to clear that up for you, and thanks to all for taking the time to read Cyclone's story!  
-MyNoseAgreesWithMe

That's about it everyone here's the title for the next chapter!

**Crossroads Chapter 12: The Predator Moves In!**

That's all everyone! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	12. Chapter 12 The Predator Moves In!

**Author's Note:**

What's up everyone and here is chapter 12 of Crossroads on schedule which is great. I think that I'm getting into a pretty good grove with getting the chapters done so hopefully there will be more to come after this!

I just wanna throw out a quick shoot-out to Egil for one his review which was really nice and that he was my 100th reviewer so thank you very much!

Also thanks again to my beta MyNoseAgreesWithMe for his awesome work with the chapter and story as well as everyone else that reviewed so thanks a lot for that!

That should be about it everyone so with that said, enjoy the chapter!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon. Although I do own my OC Corey as I was the one that created him._

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 12: The Predator Moves In!**

_Previously on Crossroads: Scott paid a visit to check in on Ash's progress and to ask what he wanted for the name of his Battle Facility and Symbol. Ash selected the Battle Colosseum and the Bond Symbol. After that; Corey had a talk with Ash about his relationship with Anabel. Ash and Anabel then went to the lake where they had a double battle in which Ash won. Anabel then fell asleep and Ash carried her back to the house which led to him leaving a note on her desk asked to go on a date._

* * *

_Tohjo Falls, Anabel's House – Kanto Region_

Ash woke up earlier than usual the next morning, which was quite unusual for him - understandable, however, seeing as he was nervous about Anabel's answer. Unable to get back to sleep, he got dressed and headed into the living room, where he realized that he was the only human up at that hour. Seeing Anabel's Pokémon meditating to hone their psychic abilities, he decided that getting some early-morning training in wouldn't hurt and headed out to the lake.

Once he arrived, Ash released his Pokémon (who each called out their respective species names upon arrival), and Pikachu jumped off of his shoulder to join them.

"Alright everyone, let's start up the day with some training." he greeted them. Some expressed confusion about the alteration of routine, but once Ash's partner explained that he was unable to sleep, they accepted it and lined up for instructions. "Okay, Kingler and Heracross, you two work on your strength, since that's the most vital portion of your battle methods." The Bug- and Water-types nodded.

"Pikachu and Quilava, I want the two of you to work on your speed - that means fast, low-powered, hard-to-evade attacks, not Eruptions or Volt Tackles." The two immediately charged for an open area with Quick Attack, Pikachu throwing a salute.

Ash turned to his remaining partners. "Bulbasaur, you can work with Pidgeot to build up your endurance to Flying-type moves - but don't be afraid to retaliate, Pidgeot needs evasion and endurance practice too. Ok, everyone... er, everyone who hasn't started yet," he amended, "let's get to it!" Ash pumped a fist in the air, joined by his Pokémon, who then paired up to begin their training.

* * *

Over in the woods nearby, the sounds of clashing attacks stirred a trainer from his sleep.

"Urgh, what loser disturbed me with their training?" he questioned. Receiving the expected answer (none), he grabbed his binoculars and aimed them through the forest in the direction of the noise. "Oh, _that_pathetic loser." he spat, seeing Ash encourage his Pokémon as they trained. "It seems he still believes all that junk about 'emotions' and 'bonding'..." As he said this, a memory rose to the surface of his mind.

...

_"Thank you," the purple-haired trainer said, kneeling down in front of his fallen Pokémon as his opponent rejoiced in the background. "Good battle, Electivire."_

_..._

_"Good luck, Paul." Ash told him as he prepared to leave after having lost their match._

_Paul looked at his rival, a hint of a smile in his eyes. "Thanks. You too." He turned to leave. "So... I'll see you."_

_..._

The Veilstone native shook his head to clear it. _"A mere slip-up - I know better now."_Turning back to his observation, he started planning strategies to humiliate the Pallet trainer.

* * *

Clumps of dirt flew everywhere, kicked up by stray elemental attacks. The initiators of these attacks, Pikachu and Quilava, ignored them, being protected from most of their effect by the use of Quick Attack. Almost invisible to the naked eye, they blurred from collision to collision, barely slowing to launch Embers and Thundershocks at each other. Pikachu was much easier to follow, as the Iron Tail that he kept active yet unused to balance out the difference in experience gleamed in the sunlight.

Small explosions of smoke appeared at each meeting of attacks, marking where the two clashed - Quick Attack versus Quick Attack, Thundershock versus Ember. A blur of speed, a flash of light - there they are! - no, they've struck and gone.

Of course, this was when the two of them were fresh - how the two of them performed while tired out would truly test their mettle. While waiting for them to get tired and slow down, Ash looked over at the other sparring Pokémon.

Kingler and Heracross were engaged in a much more slow-paced match - brute strength versus strong defense, all at close range. Kingler swung its larger pincer at Heracross in a Strength attack, but the Single Horn Pokémon stood strong and Endured it, arms crossed above its head. Feinting exhaustion, Heracross was then able to lower Kingler's guard, allowing it to push the giant crustacean back. As its opponent tried to regain its balance, the bug released its wings and powered up a Megahorn, getting ready to charge towards the Water-type.

As its opponent began its run, Kingler regained its balance and powered up its huge pincer with Crabhammer, swinging it downwards to intercept Heracross's attack. The ensuing power struggle terminated in a stalemate, both sides unwilling to give in. Agreeing that they were getting nowhere, the two disconnected their attacks and moved back to their original positions.

The training session with Bulbasaur and Pidgeot combined elements of each of the others; the plant/animal hybrid and raptor tested each other's speed and endurance by strafing their opponent with Razor Leaves and Air Slashes respectively, deciding for themselves which attacks to dodge and which ones to take head-on.

Pidgeot, less worried about being hit by Bulbasaur's attacks, saw an opening and took it by diving in with an Aerial Ace. The attack nailed Bulbasaur, but the Kanto Starter was able to recover and latch on to the retreating Pidgeot with his Vine Whip. Once his grip was secure, Bulbasaur fired a barrage of Razor Leaves into Pidgeot's back, causing the flying type to wince in pain. Trusting in type advantage to keep himself healthy, Pidgeot executed another Aerial Ace, swooping under a bush to make Bulbasaur either let go or get caught by its branches. Bulbasaur, taking the smart choice, released his grip, quickly returning to his original position.

As the process continued, Ash tried to figure out what still needed work. Hearing Pidgeot fire off several syllables of its name towards Bulbasaur, he thought, _"I wish I could understand Pokémon like Anabel does - then I'd be able to ask their__opinions. How did she say she did it again?" _He barely had the presence of mind to take shelter from stray attacks as he thought back to that day.

...

_"Wow, you can talk to Pokémon for real?" Max questioned as they sat around Anabel's coffee table._

_"That's incredible!" Brock added._

_"Not really," the (unknown at the time) Salon Maiden responded. "What I do is sort of sense what the Pokémon are feeling at the time."_

_..._

_"Sense what the Pokémon are feeling at the time, eh?"_ Ash pondered. _"Hmm... I wonder if what I've been practicing to help read Anabel's heart will help me sense my Pokémon's feelings too."_ Drawing on the emotion-sensing Aura ability, he focused on his partners to try and see if he could hear anything.

"Hera...**bhammer is stro**...ross, cro...**more than that to**... heracr...**efense.**" Heracross complimented Kingler as the two sparred.

Kingler's reply was drowned out by Quilava's cries. "**Stand...**quil quila...**can hit you!**"

Elated at his achievement (albeit aware that he would still have to practice a lot more), Ash whooped in victory, drawing the attention of all his partners. Unfortunately, that also broke his focus.

"Pi pika, Pikapi?" Pikachu questioned. Now, if it had been any other of his partners asking him, he would have been very upset that he had messed up right before the question - but seeing as it was Pikachu, he understood perfectly.

" 'What is it,' you ask?" Ash responded. "I actually managed to understand some of Heracross and Quilava's words, like Anabel can!" Hearing the news, all his battling partners cheered - and he didn't need any special abilities to know that they were saying things like "Nice job, Ash!" or "Great, now keep at it!" Why? Because that's exactly the same way he would have responded if any of them had learned new moves - acknowledgement and encouragement. In fact, that was the same way he had managed to help Infernape gain control of Blaze back in Sinnoh.

Little did he know that less than a mile away, another trainer was also remembering Infernape...

* * *

_A torrent of flame washes over Ursaring, pushing it back and knocking it out. As the announcer announces Ursaring's defeat, Chimchar and its trainer rejoice happily._

...

_Electabuzz, very weakened by its only true combat during the match, standing over a fainted Monferno._

_..._

_A Mach Punch from Infernape smashes Aggron into the arena wall, eliminating it._

_..._

_A Flare Blitz underground, eliminating Drapion's Toxic Spikes and weakening Ninjask enough to be finished off with Mach Punch._

_..._

_An armored monkey stands up slowly, surrounded by the power of Blaze, to stand off against Electivire._

_..._

_Thunder Punch collides with Flare Blitz, spawning a maelstrom of energy._

_Silence falls for several seconds, before Electivire crashes to the ground._

_..._

These memories played over and over in Paul's head, reminding him again how much Infernape had contributed to Ash's victories against him. "_Four out of eight wins - all by that monkey's hand. I wonder how well Ash would have fared if I_hadn't _been so strict with Chimchar - or released him_ _when Ash_ wasn't _around..."_

He chuckled darkly. "Ha, that pathetic weakling wouldn't have beaten me if it hadn't been for _my_ handiwork with Chimchar - his battle against Tobias shows that. He didn't use Infernape, and surprise, surprise, he lost 6-2, just like his first full battle against me, where he _did_use Chimchar. And without Infernape, he won't stand a chance this time..."

"Terra?" his starter questioned, concerned for its trainer. Interrupted from his reverie, the plum-haired trainer turned to chastise his Pokémon, but found himself unable to. A flash of something - appreciation for its concern? - flitted through his brain, before it was swiftly quelled by his emotionless persona.

"It's not your concern, Torterra." he finally answered (much less harshly than he might have), before returning to his observation of Ash. The raven-haired trainer had just allowed his Pokémon a break, and his (Paul assumed) girlfriend was walking up the path behind him. "Come on, let's move a little closer."

As they walked stealthily through the forest, Torterra sighed. _"I miss the times he cared - our first Sinnoh run, when I evolved into a Grotle, was actually _fun._I wonder why he changed so drastically after losing..."_

* * *

After an intensive training session for both Ash and his Pokémon, he called them all into a group. "That was great, everyone!" he told them. "Take five, and then we'll mix things up by switching partners."

"**Got it.**" they all replied in their own language, moving over to the trees to relax and recover their energy after their workout.

As Ash looked over all of his Pokémon, having stopped the energy-intensive mental exercise, he realized that he had forgotten about the note that he left on Anabel's nightstand the night before. But that realization reminded him, making him wonder what the Salon Maiden's response would be. _"I guess I'll find out whenever I see her next..."_

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait very long for his answer - right afterwards, a pair of hands attached to slender arms covered his eyes, leaving him unable to see who had ambushed him. He had a good idea who it was based on their build, though. "Is that who I think it is?"

The 'unknown' figure chuckled in a very obviously disguised voice. "Here's a clue: my answer to both questions is yes."

It took a second for Ash to connect the dots about the 'both,' and a few more to formulate his reply as Anabel switched from covering his eyes to hugging him. "I see you saw my note, then…" he finally said.

"Yeah, I did." she answered. "When I woke up dressed in yesterday's clothes, I figured that I must have fallen asleep last night at the lake. And that led to me wondering whether or not you were even _going_to ask me out - but then I saw the note. Now if only there had been flowers there too..."

Ash laughed softly at the playful tone in her voice. "I'm glad that you liked it. I _was_ actually thinking about asking you before we went back, but since you fell asleep I figured that was the next best way."

Anabel laid her head against his back, continuing to keep her arms wrapped around her newly official boyfriend, and asked, "So where and when are we going?"

The question took Ash slightly off guard, as he had forgotten about that part of the process. Racking his brain, he replied, "Oh - well, um... I think I remember your brother mentioning a restaurant in town that you've always wanted to go to. So maybe we can go there, uh... tonight, after today's tournament maybe?"

At this, the Salon Maiden unlatched herself from Ash, chuckling. "Well, Ash, I thought that you would have given me a little bit more time to prepare for this, but… I guess I can trust you to make this work."

"I'm glad to hear that you think that highly of me." he teased, turning to face her. "So, is 7 a good time for you, or should I make reservations for a different time?"

In response, Anabel quickly moved back over to Ash, whispering in his ear. "I'll see you then…"

She gave him a peck on the cheek as she pulled away, turning to walk back towards the house. As Ash watched her leave, her gait once again drawing his gaze towards her hips, a thought flashed through his mind. _"Wow, she's got some real TM87..."_ He immediately questioned his sanity, before his thoughts returned to his upcoming date.

He turned back to look at his Pokémon, saying to himself, "_Tonight is gonna be a great night…"_

* * *

"So he's going on a date tonight, huh?" Paul mused as he stealthily backed away from the bush where he had been hiding, Torterra following. "I hope he's prepared for the mood whiplash he'll be suffering from once I strike. I'll steal his chance at a perfect date just like he stole my chance at actually _winning_the Sinnoh league." He almost chuckled happily in anticipation, but that would have required (ugh) _positive emotions._

No, satisfaction once his 'rival' had been humiliated would be a much better choice. Things like satisfaction, smug amusement, or even anger were fine, but positive emotions would get him nowhere. With that in mind, he entered his camp and immediately called his Pokémon to attention.

"Alright, listen up, everyone. We're moving in tonight, so I won't tolerate slacking from any of you." he instructed. "Get ready to give Ash's Pokémon a major butt-whooping - if you don't... do I even need to say it?"

Torterra, Electivire, and the others nodded, understanding the unspoken threat.

As they began sparring (albeit with energy-intensive moves rather than lower-powered moves like Ash's had), Torterra's thoughts returned to the emotional condition (or lack thereof) of his trainer. _"I hope Ash can get through to Paul again and re-unlock his feelings - this time for good. He may still have a bit of a soft spot for me, but that's not enough. He needs something like what I hear happened to that Psychic-type gym leader that he steamrolled with Sneasel and Murkrow during our Kanto run several years back - what's-her-face..., um... Serena? Sonia? Whatever..."_

"Torterra, your performance level is dropping..." Paul warned, and the Grass/Ground-type redoubled its efforts. "Tonight, Ash... Tonight, I show you how pathetic you are without the Infernape that I essentially gave you."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Kanto...

A pair of blue eyes flashed open. _"I sense a disturbance..."_ their owner telepathically communicated with her Pokémon.

_"It's nothing serious, Mistress Sabrina."_the Alakazam replied, and their focus returned to watching the Gym battle that one of her apprentices was currently performing.

* * *

_Tohjo Falls, Anabel's House_

As 7:00 PM neared, Ash finished getting ready. Adjusting his purple tie for the last time, he made one final attempt to fix his unruly hair - once again resulting in a failure. Tucking in his shirt (which also happened to be purple - he blamed Corey for buying so many items of that color), he decided that fixing it up wasn't going to happen, so he just left his hair as it was.

New black dress shoes squeaking against the floor, Ash exited his room. As he went into the living room, he saw Corey, Boltblast, and Pikachu sitting on the couch watching TV.

Ash's loud footsteps having alerted them to his presence, the trio turned around to appraise him. Nodding his approval (and wiping his paws on the sofa to avoid marring the shirt), Pikachu leaped up onto his trainer's shoulder. Corey, on the other hand, simply said, "Not bad at all Ash - maybe violet just brings out the best in you or something. Not that you could ever compare to my awesomeness..."

"Pfft, yeah right." Ash responded. "Anyway, do you think I'm underdressed, or is this enough?"

"Nah, trust me on this. It's only your first date - and besides, if my sister thinks you look good covered in mud, she'll be amazed at how you look now. Additionally, I'm sure Anabel will be wearing something lilac, so your outfit will go along with hers perfectly."

"So, when exactly did you become 'Mr. Fashion Expert,' again?"

"Well... it _just so happens_that a couple of my girl friends - note: girl friends, not girlfriends - at the private college I attend are majoring in fashion. And around them, it's kinda hard not to pick up that sort of thing." laughed Corey. His laughter was cut short, though, by a new voice entering the conversation.

"Please, Corey - the _last_ thing that you are is fashionable. Just because a couple of girls that you hang out with at college are into fashion doesn't add anything _to your_'expertise'..." said the lilac-haired Salon Maiden as she entered around the corner.

Anabel was (naturally) dressed in a lilac-colored strapped dress - and it didn't do too bad a job of showing off her figure, either. Her hair, which she had allowed to grow a little bit over the past year, was curled slightly, her bangs arranged to frame her face. Overall, Anabel certainly looked the best that Ash had ever seen her (and that was saying a lot - after all, when he carried her home the night before, he had thought she couldn't look any cuter). His jaw hung slightly as he took in the Salon Maiden, but he finally stammered out, "Wow, Anabel… you look… beautiful."

Older-brother instincts kicked in, and Corey had to resist the urge to gently but firmly send Ash away. His slight unease didn't escape his sister's notice, and she gave him 'the look' before she closed the gap between her and Ash, saying, "Well, I think that you look very nice as well, Mr. Ketchum."

Ash's stomach was suddenly assaulted by hundreds of Butterfree. "He-he… thanks..."

Anabel giggled at Ash's sudden nervousness. "So, my good sir, how shall I be escorted to my destination tonight?"

"Well, milady, your transportation resides..." Ash began. However, he soon ran into a difficulty with his delivery - the 'high-class atmosphere' didn't really work with the TV blasting in the background. "You know what, how about we ditch the formality until we get there? I'll show you how we're traveling once we get outside." he finished, extending his hand towards the Salon Maiden.

Anabel accepted it and looked towards her brother. "We should be back around 9-ish, but if we need anything, then we'll call you." she informed him. With that, Ash led her out the door.

As the door closed behind Anabel, Corey leaned back on the couch, absentmindedly petting Boltblast. Suddenly, he sat up straight. "Boltblast… I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about tonight…"

"**Don't worry, it'll be fine**…" the Raichu answered, trying to encourage him that there was no need to worry.

"Thanks buddy. I just hope I'm wrong," Corey replied, suppressing the inexplicable urge to say, "That's when I worry the most," as the pair went back to watching TV.

* * *

Their ride to town turned out to be Pidgeot - and the air as they flew was chillier than expected. Anabel regretted not bringing a coat, but Ash proved to be a nice heat source. She clung to him throughout the flight, appreciating him for three reasons. One, stability; two, body heat; and three, comfort that helped banish her 'first-date jitters.'

After about 10 minutes of flying, Pidgeot landed in the center of the village. Tohjo Village was, for the most part, a pretty small place - most of its inhabitants were non-residents, only there to challenge the nearby Tower. It wouldn't be fair to attribute _all_of the tourism to the Battle Tower, though; the restaurants and monthly festivals certainly held their own appeal to foreigners.

"Thanks for the ride, Pidgeot!" Ash said as they dismounted. "We'll let you know when we need to leave, but until then, why don't you relax for a bit? Fly around, enjoy the night, that sort of thing."

Pidgeot raised its wings in agreement and took off into the night sky, Pikachu choosing to remain with him. The two headed over to the forest to chill (both figuratively and literally), Pikachu listing the benefits of not having to stay within the confines of one's Pokéball for Pidgeot to experience.

Ash then looked at Anabel and offered her his arm. "Shall I escort you to our destination?"

Anabel looked at Ash quizzically for a second, trying to figure out if this was the real Ash - the formality was so unlike him. Remembering the exchange in her living room, she flashed Ash a big smile and said, "Of course you may, sir Ash." as she linked her arm with his.

The pair walked for a couple of blocks before reaching their destination. By the time they arrived, Anabel knew where they were going - the giant Milotic statue on the roof was a dead giveaway.

"No way - the Extravagant Milotic? Ash, do you know how expensive this place is!?"

"Hey, Corey told me to make a good first impression, and from what he said, you've always wanted to come here! Besides, I have all of my winnings from the conferences I participated in, so this won't really put a dent into my savings."

Anabel looked at Ash, sensing no hint of falsehood in his statement, and smiled, before pulling him into a quick hug. She then pulled away and grabbed his hand, saying, "All right then, Ash - let's go!"

Ash smiled at Anabel's delight and followed her under the smaller Milotic gracing the door frame, into a truly gorgeous scene. The whole restaurant, true to its name, had gone all out with the decorations in the dining hall. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the floor was spotless, and a large fireplace roared and crackled in the back, adding to the ambience of the room. The restaurant's mascots swam gracefully in tanks on either side of the fireplace, relaxed yet ready to deal with any escaping fire at a moment's notice.

The two took all this in as they waited to approach the hostess, who (quite anticlimactically) simply asked, "Name, please?"

Ash stepped forward. "I'm listed as Ash Ketchum - I called earlier to reserve a table for two."

The hostess checked her list, and said, "Ah, yes. Ash Ketchum - and I see your date is our local Frontier Brain. Right this way, then."

Ash retook Anabel's hand, following the hostess as she led them to a table near the fireplace. The hostess handed them their menus, informing them, "Your waiter will be with you shortly, so please sit and enjoy!"

"Thank you very much!" the couple responded, sitting down across from each other.

Anabel glanced at Ash before looking down at her menu. "Thanks a lot for taking me here tonight, Ash! I can't wait to taste the food here - I read in a magazine that the Extravagant Milotic was one of the top 5 places to eat in Kanto!"

Ash didn't respond, as his bottomless stomach had taken over his brain. He sped through the first few pages of the menu at a rapid speed, looking for the perfect thing to eat. When he reached page 8, he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening at the picture of the Sirloin Steak.

"Anabel, have you seen the Sirloin Steak on page 8 yet? It looks fantastic!"

_"Just like Ash..."_Anabel thought with a smile as she turned to the page he had mentioned. To his credit, it really _did_ look fantastic. "Wow, Ash! You're right, it looks great! I was thinking about getting a Chicken Caesar Salad, but now I'm not sure..."

Ash laughed. "Well, you can have anything you want, Anabel. Tonight is totally on me!"

Anabel smiled warmly at him and said, "Thanks again, Ash - really!"

Ash's reply was cut off before it began by the approach of the black-and-white-clad waiter. "Hello, and welcome to the Extravagant Milotic. My name is Jordan, and I will be serving you tonight." He flashed a grin at them that would make most girls swoon - denture free, perfectly straight teeth, complemented by his underlying charm.  
As he took out his notebook to take their orders, his blue eyes flashed with recognition.

"Hey, you're Salon Maiden Anabel, aren't you?" Jordan asked.

Anabel smiled and said, "That would be correct."

He flashed her another pearly grin, suavely replying, "Well, I must say that you look _much_ more beautiful in person than you do in those newspaper photos."

"Thank you very much for saying that." Anabel blushed slightly, embarrassed at the uninvited attention.

Ash, misinterpreting Anabel's blush, began sneaking dirty looks at Jordan. "_Who in the Reverse World does this guy think he is, coming up and blatantly flirting with my date?_"

Jordan, blissfully unaware of Ash's anger, answered Anabel, "You're very welcome." Turning part of his attention back to Ash (although staying mostly focused on the Salon Maiden), he asked, "Now what can I get you two to drink?"

"I'll take a water with lemon, please." Anabel replied cheerfully.

Ash, on the other hand, stiffly answered, "I think I'd like a Coke, please."

"All right, I'll be right back with your drinks." Jordan told them as he put away his notebook and walked towards the bar.

As he left, something in the corner of Anabel's eye caught her notice - a party of five at another table. She couldn't be quite sure, but two of the men looked like the President of Hoenn's Devon Corporation, and his son Steven. The blond-haired woman and her family members with them seemed sort of familiar, too, but their names escaped her at the moment - all she could remember was something about a purplish-blue dragon.

She turned to Ash, preparing to ask him if he could tell, but stopped when she noticed the irritated expression on his face. Before she could ask him why, Jordan came back with their drinks (from over near where she had been looking) and placed them on the table, along with the complimentary plate of rolls.

"Now, what can I get you to eat?" Jordan queried - once again directing the question towards Anabel.

"I'll have the Sirloin Steak - here, on page 8." answered Anabel, pointing to the picture.

The blonde waiter began writing her order down, commenting, "Ah, that's a very good selection. The Extravagant Milotic is known for having the best Sirloin Steak in the Kanto region."

Before Jordan could get another word in, Ash spoke up. "I'll be having the same."

Jordan wrote Ash's order down as well, before telling Anabel, "Alright, I'll put this right in for you, so it should be ready shortly. Until then, enjoy…" He flashed another smile and walked away to attend a different table.

Hearing the muted sound of grinding teeth, Anabel looked over at Ash. "Hey, Ash. Are you OK?"

"Oh I don't know, why don't you go ask _Jordan_? You sure seemed to be fascinated with him earlier, while he was getting our drinks..."

The Salon Maiden quickly realized what the problem was, and immediately face palmed in her mind. "Ash, that's not it at all - I thought I saw somebody I recognized over at another table." At his skeptical look, she continued. "Just think about it. Do you _really_think that I'm the kind of person who would try flirting with somebody else _during_ a date? Especially one with _you_? There's isn't any need for you to worry - I'm on this date here with you, not him, and I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, the raven-haired trainer realized how stupid he must have looked with his false accusation. He quickly straightened up in his seat and apologized. "I'm sorry, Anabel - I acted stupid by jumping to conclusions. How about we put this behind us and enjoy the night, like we wanted to do in the first place?"

When she heard that, Anabel felt like she had to reassure him with a smile. She reached over and took his hand, intertwining their fingers, and said, "Yeah, that works for me. Wanna tell me about some of your adventures in Sinnoh? I always wanted to go there when I was younger, but then the Battle Frontier came along, and I bet you can tell what happened next. I heard from my Dad that it's a beautiful place, though."

"Heh heh, funny you should mention Sinnoh..." Ash replied. "Your earlier comment about 'not worrying' sounded a lot like the 'catchphrase' of one of my traveling companions during that time - actually the third one whose bike I accidentally destroyed. You see..."

Ash began to relate the story of his Sinnoh journeys, with Anabel listening and occasionally asking questions. They were so engrossed in their conversation, and simply spending time bonding, that their surroundings seemed to melt into a blur of motion - constantly moving, never staying quite the same. Inside their area of calm, however, no matter whether they were laughing at jokes, eating the bread, or drinking their beverages, one thing remained constant - their hands did not unclasp. In fact, when Ash mentioned Paul's treatment of Chimchar, her grip tightened in comfort.

* * *

"ACHOO!" Paul sneezed, accidentally calling his Pokémon to attention just as easily as yelling their names would have.

"Hmph, I guess that worked... Alright, everyone - into position. Drapion, you hide in the trees near the lake - grab the girl when things seem mushiest. Electivire, you're with me. Torterra, keep an eye on my stuff until I say otherwise. The rest of you, hide elsewhere in the forest as backup." the purple-haired trainer ordered.

As his Pokémon left for their assigned posts, Paul grunted to regain their attention. "One last thing - I better not hear a sound from any of you before it's time, or else you're gonna be on the receiving end of the next endurance exercise."

They nodded mutely, starting to take their places, as Paul chuckled darkly. _"You don't stand a chance, Ash."_A flash of worry then crossed his face, ruining the 'evil mastermind' look. _"I just hope those__bumbling idiots I 'convinced' to alert me when he heads back don't mess up..."_

* * *

The 'bumbling idiots' in question were, at this moment, taking out the restaurant's trash. They had been discovered hiding in the janitor's closet by the manager, who had pressed them into service (as the real janitor had never shown up).

"Ugh, this is so degrading." the red-haired woman complained, holding her nose as she threw the bag into the dumpster. "I _knew_we should have chosen to participate in the Boss's Unova Preparation Training program - see where we are now?"

"Now, now, Jessie. It's not that bad..." her blue-haired companion reassured her. "After all, we _are_getting paid for this."

A Meowth emerged from the shadows of the alley, chewing on the steak he had swiped from in the kitchen. "Jimmy-boy's right - we could be a lot worse off than dis, ya know? Dis way, we get money _and_we can keep an eye on da twoip! We was already gonna do it anyways, even before the emo twoip blackmailed us inta watchin' him..."

"Fine..." Jessie grumbled. "I guess Team Rocket's working their butts off again..."

"WOBBUFFET!" a blue blob chimed in, before a star audibly twinkled above the group.

* * *

Jordan returned to Ash and Anabel's table, carrying two plates of food. As he handed them their food, he apologized to them for the delay - something about a stray cat having stolen their food. He had given up on trying to flirt with Anabel after he saw how serious about each other they were while he refilled their drinks, and so his next comment was directed equally at both of them. "All right, both of you - enjoy!"

The food lived up to its reputation - Ash struggled to refrain from just devouring it in huge bites, not wanting to look like a slob in front of Anabel. She laughed appreciatively at his behavior as she consumed hers as well. Even though she wasn't usually a steak person (not as much as Ash, anyways) Anabel still found the steak quite appetizing.

Within 15 minutes, the pair had finished their food, and Jordan brought them their bill. When he returned from processing it, he told the couple, "I hope you have a great evening together - sorry if I messed it up for you with my actions earlier."

As they stood up to leave, Ash (who didn't hold grudges for very long) responded, "I forgive you - just be a little more observant before doing stuff like that in the future. If you don't, you may find yourself receiving a knuckle sandwich from some jealous boyfriend with a shorter temper than me. Tell the chef the steak was great!"

"Will do!" Jordan replied as they left the restaurant hand in hand. Their spirits were extremely high, as they had both had a fantastic dinner and survived their first minor spat.

As the pair walked down the street (Meowth watching from the alley), Anabel started to lean on Ash's shoulder. Seeing a familiar blonde-haired woman (the same one Anabel had seen at the restaurant) emerging from a shop with an ice cream cone in hand, Ash asked Anabel, "Hey, there's an ice cream shop over there - would you like to get some dessert?"

Lifting up her head, Anabel smiled at Ash. "Sure, that would be nice."

A couple minutes later, they emerged from the shop, each holding an ice cream cone. Ash had a mixture of vanilla and chocolate swirl, topped with chocolate sprinkles, and Anabel's was just plain old mint chocolate chip. As the two of them began eating the sugary treat, they sat down on a bench near the town square's Magikarp fountain.

The ice cream, to them, tasted too delicious for words - so it was a good thing they weren't talking at the moment. Instead, they just sat there, completely content in each other's presence. Eventually, Anabel began leaning on Ash's shoulder again, their hands remaining intertwined.

As the clock struck 8:45, Ash softly asked her, "You ready to head back now?"

"Yeah… I think so. Let's go to the lake first, though - this has really been a fantastic night, and I don't want it to end just yet."

Ash nodded. "Okay, just make sure to let your brother know we'll be a little later getting back than planned." he advised as he retrieved Pidgeot's Pokéball, stood up and blasted the red return light into the air. A circling black dot saw this and dove down towards the pair, metamorphosing into Pidgeot as it approached.

"Hey Pidgeot, you mind giving us a flight over to the lake?" his trainer asked as Anabel notified her brother of the detour.

"**It would be my honor!**" the bird majestically answered, landing and crouching down so they could mount up.

Even though Ash didn't know exactly what Pidgeot had said, he easily understood the body language. "Thanks, buddy." he told his Pokémon as they climbed on, Anabel stowing away her communications device. Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder, and the group took off towards the lake.

* * *

"Okay, da two twoips are headed in youse direction now." Meowth informed Paul in a low voice. "I tink dey said sometin' about goin' to da lake on their way home."

_"Heh heh heh... just as I predicted."_ the voice at the other end of the phone chuckled darkly. _"Alright, you've fulfilled your end of the bargain now - I won't expose you three_this _time. Just hope we don't cross paths again..."_He then hung up, leaving the feline listening to a dial tone.

Meowth sat down, letting the receiver dangle, relieved that it was over. However, his moment of peace was soon interrupted by a boot to the stomach.

"Bad kitty - don't mess with the pay phones!" the store owner admonished him. "Stupid stray Pokémon, messing up the merchandise."

She picked up Meowth by the scruff of his neck and threw him out the door, then turned and went back inside. As she did so, she thought she heard somebody dazedly muttering, "Youse don't know who ya's messin with... I'm da top cat around here."

Dismissing it as her imagination, she took one last look around the shop, locked up for the evening, and headed home.

* * *

It took about five minutes to reach the lake, where Espeon greeted them before corralling Pikachu so their trainers (and, she secretly hoped, they) could have some 'alone time.' His thoughts in the same vein, Ash returned Pidgeot to his Pokéball - but not before telling him, "Thanks a lot for helping me out tonight, Pidgeot. I really appreciate it."

As he clipped the ball to his belt, Anabel motioned to gain his attention. They walked over to the lakeside, where the water almost seemed to shine by itself under the light of the moon. That same light illuminated the area around the pair in a soft, almost magical glow.

Anabel then took Ash's hand again. "Thanks again for this fantastic night, Ash. There isn't anyone else that I would have wanted to spend it with."

"Heh heh... Same here," Ash responded sheepishly, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "To be honest, though, _I_ should be the one thanking _you_ for accepting my invitation, not the other way around."

Anabel smiled at the sincerity of his emotions during that statement. _"Speaking of emotions... maybe now Ash can finally manage to 'read my heart' - I know he's been practicing to try and do that..."_She looked up her companion, and started to ask, "Hey, Ash…"

"Yeah, what is it, Anabel?"

"You remember the day we had our rematch, and I asked you if you could read my heart? And then that other time, when your apprenticeship was beginning? Well, I think that after all the time that we've spent together (and all the practicing you've been doing) you'll finally be able to do it!"

Ash turned to look straight at her. "Do you really think so?"

"I don't think so - I _know_so! And even if you don't, _believe_you can - that usually helps me."

"Ok…" the raven-haired trainer replied. He closed his eyes for a second, centering himself so he could perform the same feat as earlier in the day, before opening them and locking eyes with Anabel's lilac orbs. Sadly, he felt nothing - "N_o, wait, is that a spark?"_ Focusing on the elusive feeling, he recalled Anabel's advice - and it _grew._From a spark to a flame, and then an inferno, burning clear a path to her mind. As he began to traverse the path, he was swamped by a wave of emotion.

In that instant, it was almost as if their minds were connected on an unprecedented level, the two-way link allowing for a deeper interaction than one-way. He embraced her feelings like a sponge, soaking in everything she had revealed inside her heart.

_Her first meeting with him, and how even through his fright he was ready to protect Pikachu from Seviper's Poison Tail._

_When they first battled and she recognized how he cared equally for all his Pokémon._

_The determination and companionship he shared with his partners, even running alongside his Tauros as it practiced Take Down._

_His ability to have fun, even after getting chased by Beedrill and knocked into a lake._

_His wholehearted attempts to imitate her empathetic abilities, even though he failed._

_His resolve and adaptability during their second battle, and the support he showed that allowed him to emerge victorious._

_The realization - though she didn't quite know exactly_ when _it happened - that she had feelings for him, which she kept hidden as he left._

_How those feelings never left her - only growing stronger as time went on._

_How excited (yet nervous) she was when they met again and he chose her to be his mentor._

_His actions over the past month or so reaffirming her feelings, and showing signs of them himself._

_Their faux-date the evening before and their 'official' date that night, finalizing the transformation from a simple crush to love._

As he read the open book of her heart, seeing the growth of her feelings spurred a blossoming of similar emotions within him. The mental reverberations almost knocked him backwards, and he instinctively withdrew to prevent her mind from being damaged.

As he looked at the Salon Maiden, he saw that she was tearing up slightly with joy. "You finally did it…" she told him quietly.

"Anabel…" Ash had no words to describe this moment - but as he looked at her, he realized that there _was _a way to communicate his newly blossomed love without words. Anabel was more than ready for what happened next, wholeheartedly complying as he pulled her in for a kiss. When their lips finally connected, it sent shockwaves of pure bliss through them, the re-established mental connection amplifying the experience.

They weren't sure who thought it first, as their minds were so deeply intertwined, but a voice whispered to _"be wary of taking things too fast."_Recognizing what it meant, the pair broke off the kiss before their hormones could urge them to go too far. Instead, they simply put their foreheads together, maintaining eye contact.

Ash knew almost before Anabel started that she was going to confess her feelings out loud (not that it was really needed). "Ash… I lov-"

**"NOW!"**a Pokémon yelled from the forest, and a purple claw came out from the shadows of the trees and grabbed Anabel. It pulled her away from a dumbstruck Ash, both of them paralyzed with fear. **"Mission accomplished, Master."**

"Anabel!" he called frantically, trying to understand why anyone would do such a thing. "What the Jynx is going on?!"

The owner of the purple claw came into the light, revealing a very familiar Drapion. "Wait a minute... don't you belong to -"

Ash was cut off by a shadowy figure, who announced mockingly, "You poor, pathetic, predictable person. I have persevered in perlustration, watching you pamper your Pokémon pets - and now you let me Purrloin your precious partner. Pfft, pathetic. Prepare yourself for payback of prodigious proportions at the hands of..." The figure showed himself, unmasking Ash's purple-haired rival from Veilstone.

"P-Paul?" Ash stammered.

"You like it? I had all evening to put that speech together." Paul answered smugly.

"But... but why are you doing this?"

"You haven't figured it out yourself, I see... I expected as much from a loser like you."

"I resent that!" the Pallet native complained.

"Well, if you _really _want to know..."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I'm very sorry to leave you all on a cliffhanger like that but this was a part of the story that I couldn't wait to write so I'm glad there were finally at this stage of the story!

However, I hope that you all enjoyed the Abilityshipping in this chapter as this was naturally a huge chapter for them as a couple so I tried to explain what it would be like to read Anabel's heart as best I could so it's up to all of you to make you own visions of how you think it happened.

So I hope that you will all be very excited for next chapter as I can confirm that it will be Ash VS Paul and I know that is something that everyone loves so next chapter will be coming sometime soon!

Here's the title of the very anticipated next chapter:

**Crossroads Chapter 13: A Major Setback**

That's all everyone! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


	13. Chapter 13 A Major Setback

**Author's Note:**

What's going on everyone? Welcome to what should be an awesome chapter 13!

Now I just want everyone to know that the majority of this chapter will be a battle. I gave everyone a ton of abilityshipping over the past couple of chapters but now it's time to get down to business so I hope that you all enjoy!

Also I'm asking again to please review when you're done! I feel like this story isn't getting as many reviews as it should with over 2000 views in the first 2 days so quite frankly quit being shy or lazy and tell me what you thought so this story can finally start getting some recognition.

Anyway; thanks again to MyNoseAgreesWithMe on another great job editing this chapter, and to all the people that did review!

That's about it so enjoy the battle everyone!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon and I don't plan on starting a campaign to try and buy Pokémon or anything like that so the point is that I don't own Pokémon. Although I do own my OC Corey as I was the one that created him._

* * *

**Crossroads Chapter 13: A Major Setback**

_Previously on Crossroads: Ash took Anabel out on a date to the Extravagant Milotic where the two had a great time before then going to go get ice cream in Tohjo Village. The couple then went to the lake where Ash was finally able to read Anabel's heart. The pair then shared a kiss and were about to tell each other their feelings but that was cut short as Paul appeared and snatched Anabel away. Ash and Paul now prepare to engage in what should be an intense battle!_

* * *

_Tohjo Falls, Lakeside – Kanto Region_

"Well, if you _really _want to know...

"After you defeated me in the Sinnoh League and I was no longer around you, I managed to see through the deception you had infected me with, and realized that you were wrong - your battle against Tobias revealed that." Paul began pacing back and forth as he continued condescendingly lecturing his rival.

"With that in mind, I decided to figure out why you were able to defeat me during our last battle. Eventually, I realized that the only reason you won was because of Infernape - the one that _I_ trained. _I_ was the one who gave Chimchar all of its strength, and _I_ honed its power to the level it was at. The only thing _you_ did was leech off _my_ hard work, allowing it to unlock Blaze and evolve.

"In both of our full battles," he continued, "Infernape accounted for four of the eight Pokémon that you managed to defeat. If it wasn't for all the training that _I_ gave Chimchar to help it grow, then you would have _never_ been able to train Infernape to the potential that I knew it had! And knowing your track record, I bet that unlocking Blaze was just luck on your part."

"Paul, what are you talking about?!" Ash responded, still trying to figure out how to save Anabel from Drapion's clutches. "You're the one who _released_ Chimchar in the first place, claiming that it was weak! Don't blame me just because I managed to harness Blaze when you didn't!"

"That's not my point, you pathetic loser. What I'm trying to tell you is that without Infernape, you wouldn't have defeated me at the Sinnoh League - which means that without your precious fire monkey here now, there isn't a chance in the world that you could beat me. Not even in order to save your little girlfriend."

"Arghhh, THAT'S IT!" Ash snapped. "The emotionless rival, I could handle. Your treatment of Pokémon, I hoped you would change. But _kidnapping_ someone in order to get what you want? I can't believe you would stoop so low! But if it's a battle you want, then I'll give it to you - and ten-fold back!" He grabbed a Pokéball off his belt and cast it into the air, calling, "Heracross, I choose you!"

"Hera-cro!" the Single Horn Pokémon announced as it formed in a flash of bright light.

"How fitting, a pathetic Pokémon for a pathetic trainer." Paul droned, palming his own Pokéball. "Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" he called, releasing the Big Boss Pokémon.

"This will be a three on three battle, just like the times before Lake Acuity. Now, it's time to show you how pathetic you really are without all _my_ work with Infernape, and that your win in the Sinnoh League was just a fluke!"

Ash's response was short and to the point. "Heracross, Stone Edge!"

A pair of white rings formed around the bug, coalescing into sharp rocks which were then fired at Honchkrow.

"Honchkrow, fly to evade and counter with Dark Pulse!"

The Flying-type took off, easily evading the Stone Edge, before creating an orb of dark energy in its wings and firing it a beam of dark rings from it towards Heracross.

"Heracross, remember your training!" Ash encouraged. "Shield yourself with Bug Buzz and charge through with Megahorn!"

"Hera…. CRO" it responded, powering up its huge horn with a bright light. As it spread its own beetle-like wings and sped towards the incoming Dark Pulse, their vibrations formed a red shimmer that cloaked the Fighting-Type bug. Using the added resistance from the normally offensive move, Heracross met the attack head on and cut straight through, targeting Honchkrow with its Megahorn attack.

"Honchkrow, break off and use Haze, then follow up with Aerial Ace!" Paul ordered, no trace of worry on his face.

As Heracross continued the charge, the barrage of Dark rings suddenly broke off, before being replaced with a wave of smoky mist. Unable to see its opponent, it came to an indecisive halt, its Bug Buzz defense dissipating.

Almost immediately, Honchkrow burst from the cloud, white streaks cascading around it, and nailed the Single Horn Pokémon just behind its signature feature, sending it crashing into the ground.

"Do you see how pathetic you are yet?" Paul called as Heracross struggled to its feet. "You should know better than to try and just use brute force to beat me!"

Ash gritted his teeth and ignored Paul's remark in favor of trying to perform two more important tasks - planning how to save Anabel and putting up a fight against Paul. His split attention cost him, though, and his next command brought a smirk to Paul's face.

"Heracross, go in with Close Combat!" Heracross, trusting his trainer's instructions, immediately sprung forward to try and land the powerful Fighting-type attack on Honchkrow.

Paul fake yawned, boredly instructing, "Honchkrow, blow that pest away with Brave Bird."

Honchkrow nodded and began to focus. A light blue glow then began illuminating its wings, soon spreading to the rest of its body. By the time Heracross reached it, the glow surrounding Honchkrow had taken on the appearance of blue flames.

Its performer unable to switch to defense in time, Heracross's Fighting-type attack was rebuffed by the Flying-type aura shielding Honchkrow, who then bashed the Bug-type with its blue-glowing wings.

"Heracross, no!" Ash yelled, emotions running at full blast as the Single Horn Pokémon was thrown towards the ground. When it made contact, a small crater was created at the point of impact.

"Hera-cross…" the bug groaned from in the crater.

"Heh heh heh..." Paul chuckled darkly, before saying, "Don't you see, Ash? Without the Infernape that I gave you, you don't stand a chance against me! Now quit standing there baffled and choose your next Pokémon."

As Ash raised his arm to recall Heracross, he suddenly stopped when he saw the Bug type climbing back onto his feet, the red glow of Endure fading to reveal numerous scratches and bruises.

"Heracross…" Ash muttered quietly, sympathizing with the pain his Pokémon must have felt. His still raw emotions told him to call back Heracross before it got hurt anymore - but before he could, his Pokémon interrupted.

"HERA- HERA-CRO!" yelled the Bug-type, anger evident in its voice. Attempting to tune in to its emotions (a task made much easier by Anabel's proximity), he realized that it was telling him, "**Ash! Snap out of it and start battling for real!**"

Realizing his mistake, he resolved to focus more on the battle, but that resolution soon wavered when he remembered that Anabel was still captive.

"Don't worry about me, Ash!" the Salon Maiden told him, having spotted Espeon running back towards the cabin to warn her brother. "Focus on winning - I know you can d- MMMMPPPHHH!" Her reply was cut off by Drapion's claw across her mouth, so she switched to mental communication. _"I know you can do it - just believe in yourself and your Pokémon!"_

Ash drew strength from the message she was sending, and responded, "_Anabel… I'll save you no matter what! You've stood by my side for so long, supported me in everything I do, and helped your brother teach me how to become a better trainer, while pretty much all I've done is ignore your true feelings for me just because of my stupid denseness! Well, no more! I won't give up on you, and I won't give up on my Pokémon!_

"_Paul may have humiliated me in battle multiple times, insulted the way I train my Pokémon, and insulted me as a person, but now, stealing away the person that I have come to realize that I might love? That's the last straw, and I won't stand for it anymore!"_

Ash ended his communication (but kept the connection open to facilitate working with his Pokémon), and focused back on the battlefield as Paul taunted, "What? Saying a prayer before I beat you again?"

"No, I'm not! Heracross, let's do it! Use Hyper Beam at maximum power!" roared Ash, pointing at Honchkrow.

"**Let's finish this!**" responded the Bug type, grateful for his trainer's change in attitude. He then got down on all fours and pointed his horn towards Honchkrow, summoning a ball of orange energy at its tip. Right before the attack was fired, a spiral pattern of energy began wrapping around the sphere, causing it to look like it was spinning.

Paul's eyes grew wide as he saw the immense power of the Reversal-boosted beam, which spread out wide enough to eliminate the chance of dodging. Unable to do anything, Honchkrow was swallowed up completely by the blast of energy, which followed tradition and caused an explosion.

Even as confident as he was, Paul couldn't help a slight feeling of uncertainty as the smoke cleared from the incredible attack. Luckily for him, Honchkrow was still standing - but that one attack had taken out a significant portion of its health. Deciding not to trust in luck - there was no way to tell whether or not Heracross was holding a Power Herb - he called out one last attack. "Honchkrow, finish this with Aerial Ace!"

Honchkrow reacted immediately, dashing forward and nailing the bug - who, as it turned out, didn't have the item and so still had to recharge.

Unable to resist, the immobile Heracross was blasted back into a tree. This time, however, it couldn't get back up, and it slumped against the tree with swirls in its eyes.

"Heracross, return" Ash called, returning the Bug-type to its Pokéball. "I'm sorry that I wasn't in the right frame of mind at the beginning. I hope you can forgive me."

Through his connection with Anabel, he sensed a feeling of forgiveness emanating from his partner's Pokéball as he returned it to his belt. Choosing another one, he threw it into the air, calling out, "Kingler, I choose you!"

"**Who's my opponent? I'm ready to own it!**" called Kingler as it formed onto the field in front of Ash, who sweatdropped at the effects of the Water-type having stayed with Professor Oak for so long.

"Hmph, another pathetic Pokémon that I can easily defeat." Paul mocked, looking away from the giant crab. "Don't you have anything stronger, loser?"

"You bet I do - I have a Pokémon that could wipe the floor with any of yours without breaking a sweat!"

Hearing this peaked the purple-haired trainer's interest slightly. "Oh? And what would this mystery Pokémon be?"

"You don't need to know - that way he'll stay a surprise. Just count yourself lucky that he isn't here."

"Oh, how convenient. You have a stronger Pokémon, but you didn't bring it with you? Sounds like a bluff to me, which is fitting for someone as pathetic as you are - don't expect me to be intimidated, though."

"If you think I'm bluffing, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about." Ash retorted. "But I'm not! Now, let's continue?"

Paul, annoyed with Ash's newfound confidence, brushed his remark aside. "Fine with me, you're already down one - and soon you won't have any left."

"We'll see about that, Paul! Kingler, use Bubblebeam!"

"Honchkrow, counter with Air Slash!"

The Pincer Pokémon quickly fired out a stream of colored bubbles towards Honchkrow, but the Big Boss Pokémon responded by created a swirling ball of air in its wings and proceeding to throw it towards the stream of bubbles. Just before impact, the sphere split up into several disks of wind reminiscent of saw blades, surprising all the trainers - the last part certainly wasn't the appearance they were used to.

The blades of wind collided with the bubbles, popping them and spreading the water vapor through the air. As Ash peered through the fog to try and spot Paul's Pokémon, his rival ordered, "Honchkrow, follow that up with Aerial Ace!"

Relying on the sharpness of its avian eyesight to distinguish its target, Honchkrow quickly sped forwards to attack Kingler - but this time, Ash decided to play defensively. "Kingler, hold your ground and defend with Crabhammer! Then use Hyper Beam!"

As Honchkrow appeared on Kingler's side of the field, the Pincer Pokémon raised its huge claw, focusing energy until the appendage began glowing white. Then, just before Honchkrow made contact, Kingler called out, "**Attacking me? Well, pay the fee!**" It swung its powered-up pincer down at Honchkrow, smashing it into the ground with a 'THUD' powerful enough to make it ricochet off the ground and back into the air slightly. Kingler then switched claws, positioning its other pincer in front of Honchkrow's face and unleashing a powerful Hyper Beam directly into the Big Boss Pokémon.

Honchkrow flew backwards towards Paul, its trajectory acting as a final Defog to clear the area of the lingering mist, before it skidded across the ground to its trainer's feet with swirls in its eyes.

Paul grunted in annoyance as he pulled out Honchkrow's Pokéball and recalled it. "I'll deal with you later," he muttered, before pocketing it and taking out another one. "Torterra, stand by for battle!"

The Sinnoh Grass starter emerged from its Pokéball and roared out, "Tor-TERRA!"

Ash unconsciously took a small step back, remembering the power that Torterra held – which was why Paul rightfully considered it one of his strongest Pokémon.

"So what do you think now, you loser? If you really think you can beat Torterra with that weakling, there's no hope for you! Torterra, use Stone Ed-"

He was interrupted by a new voice yelling, "Boltblast, use Thunder on Drapion! Excalibur, get Anabel while it's stunned!" In response, a huge blast of lighting came from the sky and struck Drapion's tail, making the Poison-type lose its hold on the Salon Maiden, whose hair was slightly frizzed up by her proximity to the blast.

"What the Azelf is going on?" Paul roared, unable to stop the Gallade who had hidden in the trees from jumping in to rescue Anabel from his recovering Drapion.

The Gallade landed next to Ash and released Anabel, who immediately ran over and engulfed him in a hug, her Flint-style hair tickling his nose. Based on the nicknames used, both of them knew who to thank – Anabel's brother.

"Great work, Excalibur!" the aforementioned trainer commented as he emerged from behind a tree near Ash, flanked by a quadrupedal Pokémon.

It wasn't Boltblast, though – he had been over behind a tree that was closer to Drapion. No, the Pokémon who stood proudly beside Corey was none other than Anabel's Espeon. _"And by the way,"_ she telepathed to Paul, _"interesting choice of words – we accomplished this with Willpower, which was granted to humanity by Azelf."_

Ash didn't hear that, though. "Corey!" he exclaimed, disengaging one arm to face the new arrival. "Thanks for the save there!"

"That was faster than expected." Anabel commented. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Well… back when you first left, I sort of had a bad feeling about the evening, so I was glad you told me where to find you. When I felt a small earthquake from over in that general area, I went out to check what was happening – and lo and behold, who do I meet but Espeon? She explained the situation to me - you trapped by a Drapion, and Ash battling some creep with purple hair." Corey elaborated. "Speaking of which, how dare you kidnap my sister!" he called, turning to Paul, who was extremely irked by the spanner in the works of his plan.

_"It is still salvageable, though…"_ the Veilstone native mused, before firing a retort. "You say purple hair like it's a bad thing – do you really want to insult yourself? _And your sister?_"

His reply, not being the kind of response Corey was looking for, was ignored by the former Conference Champion, who continued, "Anyway, that's when I planned out my strategy to rescue you. By the way, who is that guy, and what the in the world happened? Espeon only gave me information about the current scenario."

"He's my rival from the Sinnoh region, who I _thought_ I had become friends with after I beat him in the league – but it seems that was all a front, and he hasn't changed a bit. Why else would he kidnap Anabel during the middle of our conversation?"

Before Corey could ask what the conversation was about, Ash continued, "Anyway, after that he challenged me to a battle, and you can see what happened next."

Corey was suspicious of Ash's reluctance to discuss what was going on, believing that there was more to it than simple talking, but pushed it aside in favor of the matter at hand. "Hmph, what a jerk." he replied angrily. "Let me handle this, Ash. This guy hurt my sister, and I'm going to pay him back like you wouldn't believe! I'll give him a fight so spicy that he'll taste the bitter flavor of defeat for days!"

"Hold on a minute, Cilan – er, I mean Corey," Ash corrected himself, facepalming with one arm as he moved the other into the path of Anabel's brother. "This is my fight."

"Ugh, fine Ash," Corey conceded. "I guess you do have first dibs on this battle since he basically ruined your date."

"Thanks, Corey." Ash turned back to face his rival and called out, "Hey, Paul! Just because Anabel is free now doesn't mean this is over! I'm still going to show you that you're wrong so that you won't insult or injure me or my friends ever again!"

_"Still as overconfident as ever, I see…"_ Paul thought, smirking at Ash's response. "Bring it on, loser! Unless, of course, you need one last pep talk to convince you of the futility of your challenge…"

Over with Ash and Anabel, that 'pep talk' was actually happening – but with the opposite intentions. "I'm sorry that this had to happen, Ash." she whispered, giving him one last hug before the battle continued. "I know that you can and will beat him, and then I'll finally be able to finish what I was going to say before."

"Why wait?" he asked, having already known what it would be. "Why not just say it now?"

"Okay then, I love you, Ash!"

Having already known what was coming, Ash was able to avoid freezing up in shock, and responded, "I love you too, Anabel. Now let me go beat him and defend our honor!"

Anabel nodded, quickly giving the young trainer a quick kiss on the lips before retreating to stand next to her brother. He shot her a quick look of disgust, but Anabel responded with a "you'll understand soon enough" face and an elated fist-pump, basically shutting the door on any comments that Corey would have made.

The look of disgust was not unique to him, however; Paul's face held mirrored emotion (albeit for different reasons). "You're both sick with illusion! I'll never understand how losers like you refuse to recognize the futility of "happy" emotions - both towards people and towards Pokémon. It makes me sick, and I hold great respect for "C. Galactic" for showing me the light!"

"Paul, you're wrong." Ash countered. "Having emotions like that is something that everyone should be able to experience, even you. I know you _can_ change – everyone can – so why do you refuse? Whatever happened to the Sinnoh League?"

"That was my moment of self-doubt, just like the one you're about to undergo. However, unlike me, you won't be able to recover."

Ash sighed. "I guess now isn't the time to try and convince you of the truth, so let's just continue."

"It's about time you recognized that," Paul remarked snidely. "Torterra, use Stone Edge!"

"Kingler, block them with Crabhammer!" Ash called as the Continent Pokémon summoned rings of rocky energy, which quickly coalesced into boulders.

Torterra sent the wave of sharp rocks toward Kingler, who responded by powering up its huge pincer and striking the ground. This summoned a round white ball of energy, which burst on the leading stone and sent out a shockwave that stopped them all in their tracks.

"Now use Stomp!" Ash instructed, switching back to offense.

Kingler moved towards Torterra and began to perform the attack, but Paul called out, "Torterra, counter with Giga Drain!"

The spikes on Torterra's back began glowing bright green, and vines of energy emerged from them, proceeding to wrap around Kingler.

The attack was clearly affecting the Pincer Pokémon, but it was able to push through, bringing its left legs down onto the Continent Pokémon's head.

"Torterra, use Frenzy Plant!" Paul ordered, and Torterra released its hold on Kingler, who pushed it slightly backwards with the power of its now unrestricted Stomp attack. Torterra quickly recovered its ground, though, by summoning huge spiked vines from the ground that targeted Kingler's face. The power of the attack was such that the crab was knocked backwards, staggering back towards Ash.

Knowing that Kingler's Special Defence was nothing special and that the two Grass-type Special Attacks must have taken a toll on him, Ash decided to keep his distance so he had more time to prepare a defense. "Kingler, attack with Bubblebeam!"

Unfortunately, the increased distance was impartial to the recipient of its health, allowing Paul to order his Pokémon to "burst those bubbles with Stone Edge!"

Kingler fired a barrage of bubbles towards Torterra, but the turtle summoned another wave of sharp stones and fired them into the incoming Bubblebeam attack. Despite having a type advantage, the bubbles were not strong enough to avoid being popped by the stones, which plowed through (albeit with their Speed lowered) and hit Kingler multiple times, leaving a number of scratches on its Hardened body. But although its heightened Defense allowed it to withstand the Physical attack, the fight was definitely taking its toll – another solid Special hit would take it out.

Paul knew this and nonchalantly instructed, "Hmph, finish off that weakling with another Frenzy Plant!"

_"Just what I was waiting for!"_ Ash thought. "Alright, Kingler - block it with Protect!" he yelled as Torterra sent another wave of vines towards Kingler. Just before the spiked vines made contact, the Pincer Pokémon created a green shield in front of it, effectively blocking the attack. "Perfect! Now, go in with Crabhammer while he recharges!"

Kingler quickly made its way over to Torterra, knowing that after that many uses of Frenzy Plant in a short period of time, Torterra would need to recharge. Secure in that knowledge, it made no attempt at evasion, following the straightest path towards the Sinnoh Grass starter. Lifting its huge pincer, it brought it crashing down onto Torterra's head, causing the Pokémon to grunt in pain, before scuttling sideways out of its opponent's line of fire.

Thankfully for Paul, Torterra was his most durable and well-rounded Pokémon, so the Grass-type was able to withstand the attack without much difficulty. But even though his starter still had plenty of fight left, Paul was annoyed that Kingler had been able to get that many hits in. "Torterra, finish with Hyper Beam!" he called, traces of negative emotion breaking through his mask of nonchalance.

"Kingler, counter with your own Hyper Beam!" roared Ash, pointing towards Torterra.

"This is gonna be big! I would get back!" Corey advised his sister, taking refuge behind a tree. Anabel nodded in agreement and ducked behind another, accompanied by Espeon.

Both battling Pokémon charged up powerful attack and, once finished, unleashed it with all their might towards their respective opponent. The beams on each side were enormous, their combined power approaching that of a Legendary – too bad they were battling each other instead of working together. The balance of power between the two fluctuated, escaping energy fueling wind that whipped at the surface of the lake, lashing it into a foamy typhoon. Leaves blew off nearby bushes, and trees swayed in the wind, mimicking the effects of a hurricane.

_"Wow, that's strong – but not as strong as Mewtwo's…"_ Ash thought, leaning into the wind to avoid being blown over. He then did a double take, almost losing his footing for a second. _"Wait a minute… I didn't see him make one on Mt. Quena, so what am I remembering? I don't remember meeting him before that… I hope he's doing well."_

His reminiscing was interrupted by Kingler calling, **"I shall succeed/Against this weed!"** as it pushed all its remaining strength into its attack. However, it just wasn't enough – Torterra drew strength from its Ingrained vines and inserted one final burst of energy into the blast, causing the inferno to be thrown back towards Kingler. The crab's hastily erected Protect was only able to shield it slightly, and it was rocketed backwards past Ash and through several trees before finally stopping. As expected, it had swirls in its eyes.

"Argh, Kingler! Are you OK?!" Ash called as he ran to the Pincer Pokémon.

"**I did my best,**" groaned Kingler as he slightly regained conciseness, "**but failed the test**."

"Do you have a rhyme for every occasion, Kingler?" Ash chuckled, pulling out its Pokéball. "You did a great job, take a nice long rest." He returned Kingler and walked back to the battlefield, where an exhausted Torterra was standing triumphantly next to a smirking Paul.

Grabbing his last Pokéball, Ash whispered softly, "This is my first real battle with you in a long time… I look forward to seeing how much you've improved since Kanto! Pidgeot, I choose you!"

Ash threw Pidgeot's Pokéball into the air, revealing the powerful Flying-type, who called out, "**Who shall my opponent be?**"

Paul smirk only got wider upon seeing Ash's choice – his victory was now assured, as his opponent was not using the Pokémon he was least prepared to counter (his attempts to switch out for Magmortar or Froslass had ended in failure, as Reggie had been unavailable at the time). And even if he had, it's not like a puny little Bulbasaur could have done much…

"Pidgeot, Aerial Ace!" Ash yelled, interrupting Paul's thoughts, and Pidgeot did a quick loop in mid-air and shot towards Torterra. Having no chance to dodge, the turtle braced itself for the attack – but was still pushed back a couple of feet, unable to completely resist a fresh Flying-type.

"Torterra, retaliate with Frenzy Plant!" called Paul, trying to take out as much of Pidgeot's energy as possible. Torterra responded by launching a number of spiked vines towards Pidgeot, who was circling in mid-air above Ash.

"Pidgeot, dodge with Quick Attack and then finish with Sky Attack!"

Pidgeot saw the spiked vines incoming and quickly began dodging, swerving in between them while surrounded by a white glow. After avoiding the attack, the white glow turned red as Pidgeot began speeding towards the recharging Torterra. Just before impact, the red glow morphed into fiery flames, which sent the Sinnoh starter skidding across the ground. It stood its ground defiantly for a second before its legs finally gave out, falling onto its stomach with swirls in its eyes.

Paul looked over at his now defeated started Pokémon and lifted his arm. "Torterra, return." He didn't say anything negative, as Torterra was both his starter Pokémon and most loyal companion, making him worthy of at least some respect. (That, and his soft spot for the giant turtle had never completely disappeared, neither during his initial attitude change nor his relapse.)

He wordlessly pocketed the Pokéball and removed another, another smirk growing on his face. He then looked back at Ash and derisively told him, "Even a loser like you should know what's coming next."

The realization hit Ash like a punch to the face, bringing Paul some satisfaction as he threw his Pokéball into the air. "Electivire, stand by for battle!" In a flash of bright light, the Thunderbolt Pokémon emerged onto the field, ready to give its opponent a pounding.

A malicious grin grew on its face as it noticed who it was facing. "Electi, Electivire!"

"Come on, Ash! You can do it!" Anabel yelled, attempting to pass on the confidence she didn't quite feel. Corey just stood there, quietly observing the matchup.

"_This is bad. Not only does Electivire have a type advantage, but Pidgeot just battled against Torterra - and even though Pidgeot didn't take any damage, it must be a little tired from the energy it had to expend while taking it out. I hate to say it, but I don't know how Ash is going to get himself out of this one._" Corey thought, mirroring Ash's own mental state.

"So this was your plan all along, eh Paul?" asked Ash, trying to stall for time so he could think of a plan himself.

"Well, unlike a loser like yourself, I actually had a plan coming into this battle - and you played right into it. You really are pathetic – and it's time you realized it!"

Unable to restrain his temper any longer, Ash yelled, "Enough talking! Pidgeot, fly up and use Air Slash!"

"Electivire, intercept it with Brick Break, then follow with Thunder!"

Pidgeot flew high into the air and created an orb of swirling wind, throwing it towards Electivire. As it traveled, the attack did the same thing as with Honchkrow, once again taking on the unfamiliar appearance – and so Electivire opted to substitute Light Screen for Brick Break. The bladed discs of air burst on the golden shield, their Special Attack nature working against them, and Electivire followed up with a stream of electricity.

"Pidgeot, avoid it with Quick Attack!" called Ash frantically, spurring Pidgeot to stop staring and dodge – just in time to avoid the incoming attack.

"Hmph, Electivire use Thunder on the field!" Electivire smirked and ignited its twin tails in electricity, blasting rocks loose from the field with the voltage generated. Manipulating the electrical tendrils, it scooped up the floating rocks and sent them towards Pidgeot, closely resembling a Stone Edge attack.

Ash remembered Paul using this technique during their battle at the Sinnoh League, and yelled, "Pidgeot, use your Aerial Ace to dodge!"

Pidgeot quickly increased his speed and sped through the incoming rocks, summoning a short-duration Steel Wing to help shield his wings from lucky hits. He managed to get safely, but didn't expect Paul's next move. "Electivire, use your tails to jump! Then use ThunderPunch once you're close enough!"

Electivire used its powerful tails to jump towards Pidgeot, who was backpedaling in surprise, making him an easy target. In a flash, the Thunderbolt Pokémon appeared in front of Pidgeot and struck him with a powerful electrical punch. The force of the attack sent Pidgeot hurtling towards the ground, causing Ash to call, "Pidgeot, regain your balance! Then swing back around for an Aerial Ace!"

Pidgeot drew strength from his trainer's words and spread his wings wide, slowing himself down as he opened his eyes to regain his bearings. With the agility of a Flying-type, he managed to pull up before hitting the ground, making a U-turn (not the move) and charging back towards Electivire. Their velocities once again adding to reduce the victim's reaction time, the descending Electivire was nailed in the chest by Pidgeot's attack.

Even having seen similar scenarios before, Anabel and Corey could not help but be awed by Pidgeot's ability to recover – it seemed like you saw it anew every time it happened, and the excitement never went away.

Electivire managed to execute a wobbly three-point landing, wincing from the critical hit that it had suffered. A look from its trainer soon refocused it, though.

"Electivire, use Thunder!" Paul called, not worried at all about the Flying-type Pokémon.

"Pidgeot! Dodge that and go in with Sky Attack!"

_"Dodge that and go in with Volt Tackle!"_ a voice echoed in Corey's mind. Remembering his own counter, his eyes widened as he called out "Ash! It's a trap – just like I used against you!"

Ash looked back at Corey, thinking back to their battle – and suddenly he realized what was happening. As the red aura around Pidgeot turned into flames, Ash yelled, "Pidgeot, stop! It's a trap!"

"Too late!" Paul gloated. "Electivire, Protect!" Electivire smiled and projected a green barrier in front of itself, blocking Pidgeot's Sky Attack and redirecting it into the ground.

"Pidgeot! Get up and fly away with Aerial Ace!" Ash called - but Paul beat him to the punch.

"Electivire, grab Pidgeot and use Thunder at max power!" Electivire sprang forward and wrapped its tail around Pidgeot, leaving the Bird Pokémon struggling futilely with nowhere to go..

"Electivire, NOW!"

"Pidgeot, NO!"

"**AAAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!**" cried Pidgeot, suffering greatly from the super-powered electric move. The attack was almost identical to what happened against Infernape in the Sinnoh League – but unlike Infernape, Pidgeot was unable to survive Electivire's finishing move. When Electivire finally released Pidgeot, the charred Bird Pokémon lay helpless on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Ash, no…" Anabel whispered softly, covering her mouth with her hands as Corey came up and put a hand on her shoulder. Her disappointment was mirrored in Ash's eyes as he sunk to his knees and returned Pidgeot – although it was hard to tell under the shadow of his hat.

Paul nodded in approval as he returned Electivire to its Pokéball, before he walked towards the fallen trainer. "Just like I thought! You're helpless without your precious Infernape!" he derided his rival. "Your lack of strategy simply demonstrates even more how much of a pathetic loser you truly are. Those stupid emotions that you hold so close to your heart are the exact thing that are holding you back from… well, not being as _much_ of a loser as you are now."

Corey decided that enough was enough, and decided to step in before Ash's confidence was shattered completely. "Enough, you jerk! Haven't you done enough damage for day? I bet your remaining team members wouldn't stand a chance against me – if you believe yourself right, how about you prove it against me?"

"Corey Lila, I presume?" Paul questioned, receiving a nod in response. "As interesting as a battle between us would be, I believe that I have already proven my point." Turning his attention back to Ash, he added, "However, I will give you some advice - if you really want to become stronger, then abandon these pathetic ideas about emotion and focus on strength. If you don't, you'll never stand a chance at defeating me again, much less 'become a Pokémon Master'."

Anabel looked away from the despondent Ash and said, "You take that back! I know that Ash can become a great trainer - he already is one! He's the kind of person who gives up everything for his Pokémon, and you're just a jerk to them. You don't care about any of them, only about strength – which isn't everything in this world! Need I remind you that he actually beat Brandon?"

"Yawn…" Paul said, putting a hand to his mouth. "I'm not the one you should be giving that little speech to - I think that's he's the one that could use some help right now. And I think Brandon was just going easy on him."

Before either of the two could respond, Paul walked away, feeling that he need say no more.

Anabel ignored his exit, turning back to Ash and asking, "Ash, are you OK?"

Ash didn't answer, instead picking himself up, gently pushing them away, and wordlessly heading back towards the cabin. It was such a contrast from his usual self that the two siblings could easily tell that he had suffered a major setback.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Alright so I hope that everyone enjoyed Ash VS. Paul!

Now of course there will be more to come with this rivalry but for now Paul is the one that comes away with the victory and not only that but leaves Ash with a lot of questions about himself as a trainer.

Also if you didn't make the comparison then you will see that when Ash's talks to himself after Heracross snaps at him it was kind of like in Dragon Ball Z when Cell revives and blasts Trunks which nearly kills him. Vegeta realizes that he has ignored Trunks and has a whole speech to himself about it which I think was one of the best Vegeta parts in DBZ. Then of course he goes off on Cell but if you watched DBZ then you know what happens. As well when Kingler and Torterra fight against each other with Hyper Beam the thought of Gohan and Cell going against each other with Kamehameha was going through my mind. I'm sorry for spouting that all out but I just re-watched the Cell-Games Saga and I couldn't help but to put some of that stuff in here.

Now I will reveal some more about the story and I will say that this is the climax of the First Arc so don't get excited as I'm not revealing anything more than that were will obviously be more to the story after all this once the Frontier Brain training is over.

So once again please review as I really wanna get the recognition of this story up so when people see how many reviews, follow, and favorites this story has they will want to check it out.

Otherwise, here is the title of the next chapter:

**Crossroads Chapter 14: The Birth of a New Ash!**

That's all everyone! As always hope you enjoyed and have an awesome day!  
Cyclone20


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